Kissing Kismet
by Penthesileia
Summary: Not only was Kagome kissing a handsome stranger on the subway, she was kissing her old life goodbye and opening her world up to a crazy jewel, sickly tyrants, Matehood, prophecy's and a whole lot of fun. Inu/Kag Co-written with CutePsycoNHyper
1. Chapter 1

AN: Hey! Thanks for choosing to read, you won't regret it! This story is actually being written by two people, me and my awesome beta CutePsycoNHyper. (Don't worry, she can write) We've planned nothing out at all, so anything and everything goes. How it works is I write one chapter, and then she writes the next and so on and so forth. This chapter is all mine, so let me know how it is!! We really hope you enjoy it!

**Disclaimer-** We do not own Inuyasha and we are making no money off this fic.

Inuyasha's feet pounded down on the slick pavement, his expensive sneakers long ago abandoned so he wouldn't slide on the wet surface. He cursed while he ran, wondering what the hell happened to his back-up. They better damn well be injured or dead from the fight or Inuyasha would kill them himself.

He dove when shots rang out, one of the bullets cutting a streak through his long silver hair. His knees scraped along the blacktop, ripping open his jeans while he scrambled for his cell phone.

He slid it open easily enough as he jumped and scaled the brick wall, his fingers finding the speed dial automatically.

"You fucking bastard! Where the hell are you?" Inuyasha barked into the phone, desperately wanting to go for his gun if he wasn't so afraid of dropping the small orb clutched in his palm.

Inuyasha could almost feel his brother's blank stare on him from the other line. "Can you not handle a few weaklings by yourself Inuyasha?"

"_A few weaklings_?! I've had five fucking demons on my tail for the last twenty blocks! I thought your guys were going to take them out!"

He vaulted over to the next building, his pursuers still following him from the ground. Inuyasha heard the faint clipping of keys in the background while his legs pumped, trying to lose the demons.

"Go to the nearest subway station. Take the next train leaving in five minutes. Get off after two stops. I will send a car for you."

The disconnected tone interrupted Inuyasha's curse as he rapidly changed course and threw his phone, hitting one of his attackers squarely on the forehead.

He jumped down off the roof and flew out of the alley into the busy sidewalk, the demons yelling at his back. He pushed people roughly aside, ignoring the angry retorts, his focus on the bright, shining sign that led to his ticket home. He stopped abruptly to throw down a few bills at a vendor and grabbed a pair of flip-flops without bothering to look at them before throwing them onto his bleeding feet. He jogged down the subway steps, forcing himself to drop the jewel in his sweatshirt pocket and casually walk towards the ticket booth. He glared at the attendant, wanting him to hurry up while he scanned the arrival time of the next train. Three minutes.

Inuyasha snatched the coin up and slid it into the counter, hearing the demon's finally scamper down the steps. He pulled his hood up, hiding his trademark silver hair and faded into the crowd, smirking at the frustrated whining from the demons. He was almost insulted Naraku hadn't sent anyone better after him.

He strolled down to the platform, glad to see a huge crowd waiting. He stuck close to a pretty dark haired girl talking on her phone, hoping it would look like he was with her. Less then a minute.

"...I'm heading there right now. Uh-huh. Yes Hojo, I'm sure. The train is less then a minute away, I'm a big girl, I'll be fine, really. Look, if I die you can bring me back to say 'I told you so' ok? I'll see you really soon. Bye Hojo. ...ok, the good-bye means I'm hanging up now. Gah." The girl mumbled as she firmed closed the phone and dropped it into her purse, ignoring the ringing that erupted from it a few moments later. "Sango is going to die."

Inuyasha ears twitched and the back of his neck prickled. He liked the sound of her voice, even as it was listing creative methods of killing this Sango woman. It felt like being rubbed all over his body with velvet.

The train roared into view just as the demons appeared, panting. Inuyasha stayed close to the woman's back, trying to look like a protective boyfriend while the demons spread out among the crowd. He and the woman stepped inside, the woman claiming one of the last seats left while

Inuyasha causally grabbed the pole right next to her, his head bent as he finally noticed his shoes.

Bright pink with orange daises.

He nearly gagged when the smell of sweaty demon wafted down to him. Hell, they had boarded the train.

This wasn't his fucking day.

...

Kagome angrily set her purse on her lap, making a mental note to research medieval torture methods as soon as she went back to the library. She was putting Sango through every single one of them.

She told Sango a million times she didn't want to date anyone right now. But noooooo, no one can listen to Kagome, now can they?

She sighed, the anger leaking out. She knew Sango only had the best intentions at heart, that she was only worried about her. But really, she was fine. She was perfectly happy.

Though if Sango wouldn't believe her about that, the least she could do was stop trying to set her up with wimps like Hojo. If she had to hear about his mother one more time...

The train rolled to its first stop and the person next to her got up. The man who had been standing across from her dropped into the empty place and slouched, his long legs taking up ahuge amount of space.

Kagome studied him from the corner of her eye, wishing he didn't have that hood on. From what she could see, he looked pretty damn hot. His strong chin struck out, hinting at golden skin. His full lips were turned down in a scowl, almost daring Kagome to make them curve up. And even though his clothes were a little dirty, he filled them out in a way Hojo never would. Looking at his taste in shoes though, she should probably just assume he was gay. She sighed, turning away.

Why couldn't Sango set her up with guys like that? She was young; she didn't need husband material yet. Even innocent, pure little bookworms like Kagome needed a little fun once in their lives.

And that man looked like he could be a whole lot of fun.

...

Inuyasha forced himself not to squirm, even if he felt self-conscience in his torn jeans, ratty black hoodie and stupid pink sandals. Kami, this woman's scent was _divine_. He glanced at her from the corner of his eyes. The girl was so fucking gorgeous. Long dark brown hair curled gently to the middle of her shoulder blades, while her chocolate covered eyes gazed sightlessly up at a old ad, completely lost in thought. He swallowed when her white teeth flashed, nibbling on her plum bottom lip. He wouldn't mind taking over that job for her...

Inuyasha shook his head, trying to focus. If he wasn't careful, he was going to get killed. It was time to stop thinking with his little head before he lost the other one.

His senses went on alert when one of the demons got closer. Fucking hell, he was walking right towards him, studying everyone closely. Not for the first time, he was glad he wasn't as well known as his brother. But they might still recognize him if he couldn't think of a way to hide his face.

He swallowed when the demon stepped into the train, his eyes sweeping over everyone closely.

He began to slowly walk down the aisle.

Inuyasha's eyes swept towards the girl and his head came up with a brilliant idea.

He grabbed the girl's head firmly, crowded her against the seat and slammed his lips down onto her.

She gasped and tried to push him away, only for both of her slim wrists to get captured by his larger hand. His leg slid over her calves, pinning her legs down when she tried to kick him and allowed himself to be taken over by her taste.

It was like nothing he had ever had before; the warm vanilla soothed him while her subtle spices drove him crazy. He pressed his lips to her harder, greedy for more.

He absently noticed the demon's gaze go right over him, not really seeing his face since it was hidden by his hood and the woman's face. He growled, wishing he was sure the woman wouldn't fight him so he could run his hands over her while he kissed her. Her skin would probably be as soft as silk...

The train rolled to its second stop and Inuyasha pulled away, seriously debating whether he should just haul the girl up and take her with him.

He suddenly thought of the demons and the jewel. It would have to wait for another time. He could always track her down later.

He smirked down at her flushed face. "Thanks babe." he ran one fingertip across her bottom lip, delighting in the smooth texture before he let her go and jumped off the train, worried she would come to her senses and draw attention to herself.

He gave her a two fingered wave, still smirking. "Later." he mouthed before turning around and disappearing into the crowd.

Kagome stared after him in shock, not quite sure what she was to do now. Should she tell Sango and set a pissed off demon slayer after him? Or go after him herself?

And even as mad as she wanted to be...that kiss was still so amazing.

But at least she knew he wasn't gay now. She would still like to know the story behind those shoes though...

She scowled, suddenly mad at herself and jerked a hand into her purse. Jerk. She couldn't believe she thought such a loser was cute. Where the hell were her tissues?

She paused when something round and smooth brushed her fingertips. She pulled it out and blinked down at the pretty pink and white stone. She rolled it in between her fingers before shrugging and dropping it back into her bag. She had never seen it before but whatever, it was gorgeous. She would have to ask Ayame to put it into a setting for her. Maybe in a ring so she could scare losers like that fine cheekboned god away.

Because she didn't want to get harassed like that again. Really.

I hope you enjoyed the first one! Next week, CutePsycoNHyper will be writing the next chapter!!


	2. Chapter 2

**AN:** This is CutePsycoNHyper's response to my first chapter. BE NICE AND REVIEW!!

**Disclaimer-** We don't own Inuyasha. (Cry)

"Hey, anybody home?" Kagome called out as she slipped off her shoes as she walked through the door, leaving her bag and coat on the hanger to her right.

"In the attic!" a voice called down, barely audible.

Passing through the kitchen and grabbing the menu book from the counter, she made her way into the hallway, up the stairs, past the second floor bedrooms, up the second staircase and into the attic to find Sango doing her exercises.

The attic had been set up to accommodate all of their hobbies and interests. There was mats for yoga near the multi-colored glass window, a small table next to it was scattered with herbs from the backyard, pots, jars and everything else for the study of herbal medicine. There were pillows and bean bags in one corner next to a small shelf stocked with dozens of books as well as a large, decently powerful telescope that the girls had pulled their money together for a few months ago, sitting on top of a platform that was a few feet under a sky roof, the platform and the stairs for it made out of wood like the rest of the attic. There was a corner of the attic dedicated to martial arts, and held a punching bag, some weapons, athletic tape and a few other basic things.

This was the corner Sango was currently in, putting away her katana after practicing for a few hours.

"So how was your date with Hojo?" Sango said as she used the towel around her neck to wipe the sweat from her forehead.

Kagome glared at her as she sat down at the table, opening the large leather-bound journal to the last place she had written and picking up a pen.

"Oooh….that bad huh?" Sango winced as Kagome kept glaring, her annoyance coming off her in waves, "maybe you should just give him another chance…..or maybe not?" she finished because of the look Kagome shot her…wow she could be scary.

Kagome sighed and smiled lightly.

"Sorry, I'm just having a weird day, although I still can't believe you set me up with Hojo, I mean come on, what on earth made you think I would get along with him? He's SO boring!"

Sango laughed as she sat down next to Kagome at the table, looking over her shoulder to look at the book.

Kagome continued writing her notes on the medicinal properties of Comfrey, leaving a space on the mid-upper right portion of the page to draw a picture of the plant later.

"You know every time I see you doing this I think of the show Charmed," Sango said as she laughed, "how far into it are you anyway?"

"Oh, a couple of hundred plants, I'm organizing it by what they can cure and then adding information on how to use them, where to find them, and all minor medical properties as well as a picture."

Sango nodded as she stared at the huge book her friend had bought last year. The huge book had a Celtic tree in the front cover and had been Kagome's main focus since she bought it for the sole purpose of making her own herbal medicine book to pass down to her kids in the future.

"So other than Hojo, what else has you so annoyed?" Sango asked as she made her way to where she had dropped off her sweater earlier, picking up a water bottle.

"I got molested by a really hot guy in the subway," Kagome answered as she picked up a pencil to begin sketching the plant in front of her.

Sango had to stop herself from spitting out the water in her mouth, instead swallowing it and almost choking.

"You WHAT?! How the hell did this happen? Did you get a good look at him? What did he do? Are you okay? What stop did he get off at, and what time, I can track him, just give me a description!" Sango said as she stepped behind a partition to change into more comfortable clothes

Kagome laughed before going over and stopping Sango from castrating a guy whose name she didn't even know.

"It's fine, it's fine, he just kissed me," Kagome said she rolled her eyes before smiling mischievously, "and trust me, if it hadn't been that he kissed me without permission I would have nothing to complain about."

Sango stared at her friend and then laughed.

"Wow, I think I've been a bad influence on you Kags."

"Nah, I think it's the other way around." Kagome said as she laughed, "besides, today was not a total waste, I ended up finding something cool while I was at the subway."

"Oh yeah, what?" Sango said as she made her way to the yoga mat, needing to relax a little again.

"A really pretty pink stone," Kagome said as she sat back down at the table and continued her sketch, "It's small and round and I found it in my bag while I was in the subway, I dropped it off at Ayame's shop to get it set in a chain."

"So wait," Sango said from her mat, currently holding the Veerasana position, "you left the house this morning to go on a second date with a guy who you can't stand, only to get kissed by a hot stranger and then find a really cute new piece of jewelry?"

"Pretty much," Kagome answered.

"Wow, your life is fascinating." Sango said as she switched to the Trikonasana position.

"Oh you have no idea." Kagome laughed as she grabbed a colored drawing pen.

Inuyasha quickly made his way up the subway stairs and into the street, spotting the black car a minute later and climbing into the back. The car immediately took off at high speeds, and Inuyasha leaned back in his seat and sighed with relief.

"Hello little brother," a smooth voice said suddenly, making Inuyasha jump in his seat.

"Jesus Christ Sesshoumaru!" Inuyasha swore, surprised to see his brother next to him.

"My, my, how jumpy you are Inuyasha," Sesshoumaru said, his voice sarcastic.

"Where the hell were you? You were supposed to send back up!" Inuyasha growled

"Are you suggesting that those meager demons were too strong for you Inuyasha?"

"No! But there were civilians everywhere, this was supposed to be a delicate mission and people could have gotten hurt," Inuyasha responded.

"It is of no consequence," Sesshoumaru said, brushing it off, "did you manage to retrieve the jewel."

"Of course," Inuyasha responded, still annoyed.

"Very well," Sesshoumaru said, "we shall quarantine it as soon as possible, for now we shall put in the vault at the estate."

**20 minutes later in the Inu Family Mansion's Library**

"You know, having a vault in a library is just beyond cliché," Inuyasha said as he and Sesshoumaru made their way to the far wall.

"It is traditional." Sesshoumaru responded, "and besides, ours is a little more efficient than others. It'd be impossible for someone to get into it unless they incapacitated both of us."

As he said this, he reached up and picked up a copy of The Prince by Machiavelli and turned to the 42nd page.

Meanwhile, Inuyasha picked up a copy of The art of war by Sun Tzu and turned to page 23.

Simultaneously, the brothers pressed their hands against their respective pages, and a seemingly invisible scan identified their handprints.

Once their identities were confirmed a portion of the bookcase swung slightly open, the doorway so perfectly fitted to the rest of the shelf that it would be impossible to see it unless it was open.

Reaching into the front of his sweater, Inuyasha brought the necklace with the Inu insignia out from under his hoodie, allowing him to step past the force field and into the vault.

Sesshoumaru lead the way through the hallways of treasure and mystic objects, down a deep staircase and through some more hallways into a small secure room.

"This room is surrounded by 20 feet of concrete on each side, it's 50 feet underground and the doorway has the same features as the entrance to the vault once it's set. It won't stop him from getting it if he finds out where it is, but it'll slow him down until you and I get here." Sesshoumaru informed him as he stepped into the room.

The room was filled with many jewels and golden objects, none of them particularly valuable. In fact there were several hundreds of thousands other, more valuable items in the other rooms.

"Well, at least you learned something from the movies," Inuyasha noted as he surveyed the room, "Never, ever leave the most important and priceless article in your possession in a room by itself, since it'll be that much easier to spot when looking for something valuable. Instead leave it with a bunch of other objects that look more valuable and the thieves will skip it."

"As I have repeatedly stated, I do not obtain my ideas from movies," Sesshoumaru responded before going to a small chest and opening it to show several small, round, gems in different colors; green, blue, clear, pink, red…

"Whatever, so we're hiding it here?" Inuyasha asked looking at the chest.

"Yes and leaving it next to several other chests such as this," Sesshoumaru informed him as he pointed back to the many chests," now, if you would please place the jewel?"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and reached into his pocket,"yeah, yeah."

Inuyasha stopped dead a moment later, his eyes wide and an empty feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Well?" Sesshoumaru asked, his eyes narrowing.

"It's….it's gone…." Inuyasha said, his voice choked with incredibility.

"What??" Sesshoumaru growled out. "Did you not say you retrieved it?"

"Yes…" Inuyasha said, his mind still reeling, "I had it at the subway, I had it and I put it inside my sweatshirt pocket…."

"Then where is it?!"

"Hey Kagome!" a voice called from the first floor just as Kagome put the finishing touches to her drawing of the plant. Sango had taken the menu book downstairs after deciding on ordering pizza from _Pizza Italiana_, the little pizza shop down the street with the cute delivery guy.

"Up here Ayame!" Kagome called back as she put away her pens, leaving the book open for the page to dry, "I'll meet you in my room!"

As she made her way downstairs she thought back to the cute guy….too bad she wouldn't see him again…that had been some kiss.

She smiled just thinking about it as she walked into her room, Ayame already sitting on her bed and reading a magazine.

"Hey, so I have your new necklace." Ayame said as she pulled out a small velvet box. "The stone in gorgeous Kagome, but I wasn't able to identify it."

"Oh well, doesn't matter," Kagome said as she opened it. Ayame had set it in a silver chain with a tiny silver ball every inch or so, the jewel at the middle surrounded by a silver circle to hold it in place.

"Oh! I love it!" Kagome said as she put it on, "thanks so much Ayame!"

"No problem," Ayame said as she got up to go get some food from the kitchen, "but I'm still wondering where it came from, I mean, a jewel that beautiful just lying around, not set in anything, it's weird."

"Plus it's gotta be worth a lot, I wonder whose it was."

"I don't know," Kagome said looking at it in the mirror, "can you make some inquiries through your shop? I mean, if they had something like this, they probably had money, so they might shop around for jewelry sooner or later. If we can find the owner, we'll return it."

"And if we can't?" Ayame asked from the doorway.

Kagome smiled as she picked up the small jewel resting against her blouse and looked at it. "Well then I suppose I'll keep it….what's the worse thing that could happen?"

AN: My chapter again next time. PLEASE REVIEW!!


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: **My turn again! Hope you enjoy it.

**Disclaimer:** We don't own Inuyasha.

**Naraku **

"You WHAT?" Naraku snarled down at the five idiot full-blooded demons bowing down in front of him, trembling in fear. "How the hell did you let some little hanyou escape you?"

The demons remained silent and moved lower so their heads were touching the floor, as if that would appease his anger.

"Please forgive us my lord. We will not fail you again." one of the demons said, his voice muffed by the tatami mats.

Naraku grimaced and rubbed his hand over his rapidly beating heart. Why the hell was all help incompetent these days? Dealing with fools like this made him want to take an Advil and stay in bed.

He sighed. Thank Kami for modern medicine and Western styled mattresses.

"Yes." Naraku agreed. "You will never fail me again."

The doors were slung open violently by the five demons who had come to take the former's place, and they attacked the ex-henchmen, the pounding in Naraku's head increasing with every scream and pathetic whimper.

He turned away and walked out of the room, waving his hand at a servant, "Get it cleaned up in there when their finished." he ordered, his attention more on finding the medicine cabinet.

He gritted his teeth in anger. He wasn't supposed to be this weak, this _human_ still. He couldn't wait to send the Tashio brothers to hell for what they had done to him.

He passed by the window, refusing to look out. He had looked at the still smoking part of his mansion all morning, any more and he was going to get a migraine so bad he would black out.

Damn that Inuyasha. It wasn't enough that he had stolen the jewel after Naraku had spent five hundred fucking years trying to acquire it, he had to destroy a major wing of his home and force him to deal with the idiotic claims department at his insurance company to. With his free hand he started rubbing his chest again. Maybe he should just down the whole bottle of pills and knock off for a few hours.

Naraku randomly picked a door, hoping it would be the one leading him to his beloved Advil.

"Dad? Do you have headaches again?" his daughter Kagura asked as she rounded around the corner, coming towards him to place her cool fingertips against his forehead.

He batted her hands away, so annoyed he missed the flash of pain in her face. "What do you think?" he asked crossly.

She drew back, "I think I should get the doctor. He just returned home."

Naraku scowled at her, a huge wave of pain coming over him in a burst. Damn it, he didn't need his daughter telling him what to do.

"Help my father to his room." she ordered a passing servant, handing Naraku off into his care. "I'll go fetch the doctor."

Naraku mimicked her under his breath as she strode away, wanting to go hide in a dark corner and curl up into a ball.

The servant helped him to his room, Naraku so miserable he couldn't enjoy the opulence he had surrounded himself with like he normally would have done. The walls were black and covered in famous artworks especially commissioned by Naraku, the floors were a dark rare wood and because Naraku enjoyed the idea of constantly stepping down on Sesshomaru's ridiculous long white tail, the floor was covered in white fur rugs. The servant helped him to sit down on Naraku's pride and joy- his bed. The king sized Western mattress was the most expensive, softest bed on the market, and was replaced every three months because Naraku loved the brand-new mattress smell that wafted up from it.

The servant bowed to Naraku and went back to his duties, leaving him lovingly stroking the mattress as he waited for his daughter and doctor to arrive.

He didn't need to wait very long, a few minutes after the servant left, his doctor's stupid smiling face was the next one to come through, his daughter at his heels.

"Good afternoon Mr. Yamato. Beautiful weather today isn't it?" the doctor asked cheerfully, the dark clouds and rumbling in the sky escaping him as he set his medical bag down on the floor, humming slightly.

Naraku stared at him in disgust. "You've been on a date." he guessed sourly.

Hojo beamed. "And met the most wonderful girl imaginable!" he sighed dreamily, opening his bag with a snap. "What seems to be the problem today Mr. Yamato?"

"I have a headache and my heart is racing."

Hojo made a sound of understanding, that stupid, goofy grin still stuck on his face. Naraku stared at it, wishing there was a way to rip a smile off. Though he always could cut off Hojo's lips...

Hojo wrapped the blood pressure sleeve around Naraku's arm, beginning to pump it full of air.

"She's one of the most beautiful women I've ever met in my life. She's funny, smart and just so intelligent." his smile widened. "She's so amazing. I'm sure my mother will love her."

Naraku grunted, feeling almost sorry for the kid. The woman probably couldn't stand him.

"We had coffee today, our second date. She had to leave early, she wasn't feeling well. She complained about her head, so maybe I'll get her a scalp massager. I gave her a pair of bamboo sandals because she complained about her feet our last date. Do you think she would like a herbal remedy that cures yeast infections?"

Naraku gritted his teeth, reminding himself Hojo had graduated at the top of his class, and he was naive enough not to notice what went on around here, making him the perfect candidate to be his live-in doctor.

He was just so _dumb._

Hojo frowned down at Naraku, "Your blood pressure is up again Mr. Yamato. Have you been following that diet I gave you?"

Naraku glared at him. "I am not a rabbit." he snapped back.

"Rabbit's don't actually eat much lettuce. Mostly carrots and dry food." Hojo answered calmly back. "You need to change your diet and relax a bit more if you want to be healthy Mr. Yamato.

Let me give you something for your head ache and take a nap for a few hours. Doctor's orders."

When Hojo turned away to search through his bag, Naraku glared at his daughter, wanting her to get Hojo off his back. He didn't have a few hours; he needed to figure out a way to get that jewel back!

Kagura glared back, unwilling to help him. Naraku grunted and gave up. Fine, if she wanted to be the one with all the headaches, she could be the one to come up with a plan. He was going to go hide in bed then.

Hojo handed him two pills, Naraku half-expecting him to pat his head like a child.

Naraku glowered mentally at the thought. Just wait until he had the jewel...He would never need to deal with these human matters again.

Hojo smiled brightly as Naraku swallowed the pills, "Have a good rest Mr.Yamato."

Naraku grunted again as he crawled under his 500 thread count Egyptian cotton sheets.

"Sleep well dad." Kagura murmured softly to her father, getting no reply in return.

She and Hojo left Naraku's room, Hojo heading off to his own room to contemplate what to get his date, while Kagura strode towards her father's war room.

**Kagome**

"Ok, I don't care about the demon you're chasing after Sango, I want to hear more about Kag's mystery man." Ayame interrupted Sango during a particularly gory description, her mouth full of pizza as she stared at Kagome imploringly.

Kagome sighed, picking at her pizza. "I only sat next to him for a few minutes. His cheekbones are amazing though. And his lips look like they should belong to some fallen angel's. And I remember he had the most beautiful golden eyes." Kagome sighed.

"Lot of details for someone who only sat next to him for a few minutes." Sango teased.

"And that kiss?" Ayame prodded.

A reluctant smile tugged at Kagome's lips, "I told you, I have nothing to complain about." Kagome scowled suddenly, touching her lips. "Though with my luck, he probably had mono or something." she muttered.

Sango immediately brightened. "You should get Hojo to look at it then!"

"I already told you, I don't want to see Hojo again. What is it with you setting me up with such wimps all the time?" Kagome demanded.

Sango's mouth fell open, "I do not set you with wimps all the time!"

"You set me up with that loser who had to call his mother in the middle of dinner ten times to ask her permission for what to talk to me about." Kagome started to tick them off in her fingers. "Then there was that guy who burst into tears when I turned him down for a second date. Oh, and the one who spent two hours recording every single safety and hotline number into his cell phone before going to the park with me."

"He had a real fear of getting sick." Sango defended. "And the suicide hotline number could have come in handy."

"Because by the end of the evening I wanted to kill myself!"

"What about the one who took you on a date to the nursing home to meet his grandmother?"

Ayame asked, enjoying herself.

"And that's just from freshmen year! And it's gotten worse lately."

Sango sighed, "I just want to make sure you'll be with someone kind, gentle, undemanding...if something ever happened to me."

Kagome's eye's snapped up to Sango. "Don't talk like that. You're fine. We're fine. Nothing is going to happen. It's complete b.s."

Ayame's ears perked up, confused by what they were talking about. Was Sango sick? Worried about her job?

Sango shook her head, "Your probably right." she said, not looking convinced. "But I still want to make sure senior year doesn't happen all over again."

Kagome picked violently at her pizza at the reminder. High school senior year. The worst year of her life. It was bad, _he_ was bad, and she had been a fool but she was over it. Really.

The only thing she was still hung up about was possibly being the one who had put her best friend's life in danger.

Kagome shook the memories away. She knew it wasn't true, that it could never happen but the what-ifs still kept her up at night.

Ayame continued to stare at the two girls, wondering if she should ask what was going on. She and Kag and Sango had been friends for four years, but she knew the two girls went back even further then that. From what she understood, Kagome and Sango had been friends from a very early age and were practically sisters. They had also gone through some rough times, but they never said much about what had happened in their past. Even having known them for so long there was still so much Ayame didn't know about the two of them. Was this something she should keep her nose out of?

Kagome's cell phone alarm went off, breaking the awkward silence. She stuffed the last bit of pizza into her mouth, "I gotta go to the temple. Are you working late Sango?"

Sango nodded, "Don't wait up; this one looks like a bitch. If I die, the guys will let you know in the morning."

Kagome rolled her eyes as she got up and brushed the crumbs off her shirt. "Gee thanks. Lilies at your wake?"

"Sure. Put some of those little crepe things out to." Sango told her, only half joking.

Kagome pulled her coat on, smartly snapping the buttons shut. "Have fun Sango. Thanks again

Ayame, send me the bill later for the necklace."

Ayame shook her head, "Nope. No charge. Consider it an early Christmas gift. I'll call you later tomorrow once I get the word out about the jewel. I'll do some more research tonight too; there's gotta be something I missed. It's just not like me not to know a gemstone." Ayame muttered, annoyed at herself.

Kagome nodded in understanding. "Ok, thanks again for the pizza."

Ayame saluted her with a slice. "My pleasure."

Kagome left Sango and Ayame spread out lazily across her bed, hoping they wouldn't leave any crumbs for her to clean up later as she headed out the door, frowning slightly. Sango was really starting to worry her. She was almost becoming fanatical with this search for a boyfriend for

Kagome. Kag knew most of it was out of concern about her still holding onto the bastard from high school, but she was getting a little weird about it.

A shiver raced down Kagome's spine. Sango didn't actually believe in that silly little curse, did she? Kagome had been sure they had put that fear to rest years ago...

Kagome shook her head firmly. No, Sango was only being a little more overprotective then usual.

She had been 'taking care' of Kag since they were kids. She probably was just reluctant to let go now that they were both adults. That must be it.

"Good afternoon Miss. Kagome." a voice at her feet stopped Kag in her path.

Kagome looked down and grinned, unable to believe she had been so lost in her thoughts she hadn't noticed Sennin. "Hello Sennin! How are you?"

The old man's gnarled hands paused in handling the perfect white blossoms before sorting them again in order to attract the most possible attention. "Very well. And yourself?"

Kagome sighed as she crouched down next to his blanket, looking over today's flowers. "Could be better, could be worse kind of a day." she remarked, studying a beautiful white rose.

His dark eyes looked at her from under his bushy white eyebrows. "Something about you today is different." he said slowly.

Kagome glanced up quickly. "Not that I can think of. I haven't even had a manicure in forever."

Sennin shook his head, his white beard quivering. _"The white miko and the silver dog will join forces. The spider will gain more power. All will be fought over a pebble."_

Kagome stiffed a groan, not needing this right now. Sennin really was a nice man. He just believed he was a wizard who could see the future. He had been'predicating' events to come for years

now. They never made much sense. "Good to know. I'll give you a shout out if I come across the dog, the miko, or the spider." Kagome said patiently, handing a five over and taking a fistful of blossoms.

Sennin grabbed her sleeve. "_Hold the laughing beauty safe. Trust only a handful of those with red eyes._" he told her urgently. _"Do not forget the past so quickly."_

Kagome gently took her arm out of his grasp. "Thank you for telling me Sennin." she said gently. "I'll see you tomorrow. Good night."

Sennin watched as Kagome walked away, sliding a white flower into one of the button holes of her coat. "_It has begun."_ he decided, hoping the wind would carry his words to their ears.

**AN: Review pretty, pretty please. CPH needs the encouragement!!**


	4. Chapter 4

AN: CPH's turn! Hope you enjoy, please review!!

**Disclaimer- **We do not own Inuyasha and we are making no money off this fic.

Kouga took off his sunglasses as he walked down the hallway of the mansion, his pace quickening as the doors to the library caught his sight.

"How did this happen happen?! Who do we have on it? Have we set up a perimeter for a search party yet?" Kouga immediately asked the two brothers as he walked in, "And why is mutt boy wearing pink sandals?"

"Hey shut it wolf breath!" Inuyasha growled from a couch where he was currently pondering the situation, "Maybe if you had been on backup like you were SUPPOSED TO BE, I wouldn't have had to ditch my sneakers and grab these stupid things and misplace the jewel!"

"You're actually blaming ME for this?" Kouga yelled back, his hand breaking the sunglasses from his annoyance, "I was the one who said we should have sent someone else in to actually get the damn this! But NOOOO…..dog breath here wanted to be the big hero, and what does he do? Drops the freaking jewel!"

"Quiet both of you," Sesshomaru said, turning around from facing the fireplace.

Kouga opened his mouth again, before quickly closing it after a look from Sesshomaru.

"I have contacted Miroku, and he has cleared out the subway stops on which Inuyasha boarded and descended. A team of twenty men are doing a sweep as we speak on the stops, and the subway train itself, we shall have it in our custody within five minutes, once the last of the people currently onboard disembark." Sesshomaru informed the young men in his presence. "If our search proves fruitless it will mean that the jewel is in someone else's possession."

"Naraku?" Kouga asked as he leaned on the desk, his arms across his chest.

Inuyasha leaned forward into his hands and sighed before looking up at Sesshomaru again.

"No, he doesn't have it," Inuyasha reasoned, "Because if he did, we would be dead already."

"Yes you're correct," Sesshomaru informed him, "we've already sent someone to verify, and it appears he does not possess it."

Before either man could say a word, Sesshomaru's cell rang.

"Hello? Yes. Fine. Do another sweep and report back once you're done."

Sesshomaru looked back at the two men, before shaking his head. "The team has swept through twice with no results."

"So let's get out there and get it back," Kouga said as he pushed himself up and made his way to the door, "I've got some contacts back from the old days, we'll get the word out and we can-"

"No!" Inuyasha called out, stopping Kouga in his tracks.

"What do you mean no? We've got to get this thing back as soon as possible, you know that!" Kouga exclaimed.

Inuyasha looked at his brother, their eyes catching and both nodded in mutual understanding.

"Stupid wolf," Sesshomaru, "do you not understand what the situation is? Even my idiotic brother was able to catch on."

"What do you mean?" Kouga said as he walked back into the room and sat down on the couch opposite Inuyasha.

"If the team didn't find it, and we don't have it, and Naraku doesn't have it," Inuyasha explained, "that means that somebody probably picked it up and has it probably has no idea what it is or what it's for."

Kouga nodded as realization hit him.

"We can't let Naraku know that we've lost the jewel, which means we have to keep this as quiet as possible," Inuyasha continued from his spot on the couch, rubbing his temples as he thought about the task ahead, "because if Naraku figures out what happened before we bring it back, he'll go after whoever holds it."

Sesshomaru nodded his head slightly, "And that person will be in grave danger."

**The next day…**

"SANGO!!" a voice screamed from outside, making Sango spill her cereal and run out the door to the front garden, grabbing a knife out of the knife board as she passed it by.

"What happened?!" Sango called out as she burst outside, the knife in front of her and her body tense, prepared for an attack.

"Over here!" Kagome called from the side of the house, waving to Sango who sprinted over.

"What is it Kagome?" Sango said as she put the knife away, not sensing any danger.

"I found some kittens," Kagome said as she moved some bushes away, and revealed three kittens curled up, half dead.

"Oh, the mother must have abandoned them and taken the rest," Sango observed as she examined the three little things, "they look about two weeks old."

"Oh, the poor cuties," Kagome said as she picked them up, "come on, we can take care of them until we find them good homes, I'm sure I can convince someone at work to take care of them."

"Sure why not," Sango said as she took one of the kittens, a little black one, "they look like they're American short hairs."

"Can you take care of them while I go to the store down the block and pick up some stuff for them?" Kagome asked as she handed the other two to them before she walked through the door, dropping off her jacket on the coat rack and heading towards her room.

"Yeah sure, just hurry up, I have to go out in an hour," Sango called up.

Kagome quickly changed out of her work clothes and grabbed some jeans and a t-shirt, slipping on some shoes and grabbing some old blankets and a heating pad from the closet in the hall.

"Here," she said, handing the blankets and pad to Sango before grabbing her keys from the coffee table, "make sure they warm up or they could die, so turn up the heating pad to the highest degree and put them all together in the middle of the blanket, with the pad under it."

"Okay, hurry back," Sango called out as she cuddles the three kittens.

--

Twenty minutes later Kagome walked through the door with four bags full of kitty things.

"Geez Kagome, you know that it's only THREE kittens right?" Sango said from her position on the couch, the three kittens still on her lap, nestled in between the heating pad and blankets.

"Yeah, but I wanted to make sure they had everything they'd need," Kagome explained as she went to the kitchen and grabbed the three kitten bottles she had bought and some powdered kitty milk from the bag, as well as a plastic bottles from the cabinet.

She got a mug from another cabinet and filled it with water before placing it in the microwave to warm up for a minutes and a half. Meanwhile she mixed the powdered milk with water in the plastic bottle, before filling the three kitten bottles with the milk and grabbing the mug of steaming water from the microwave.

Truth be told she had gone a little overboard at the store. She had not only gotten two cans of powdered milk and three bottles, but also a small basket, some baby blankets, some ribbons and little silver bells, a tiny extendable wooden playpen and a big pillow.

"Here, give me the kittens and go get the bags from the kitchen please?" Kagome said as she placed the bottles and the mug of water on the coffee table before placing one of the bottles inside the mug.

"Sure, but why are you putting the bottle full of milk in water?" Sango asked while she went to the kitchen and grabbed the bags.

"Because I couldn't microwave the milk, it's bad for them, makes they're stomachs regurgitate it." Kagome said as she picked up the bottle from the water and tested it on her hand before feeding it to the first kitten she grabbed, the gray and white one, and putting another bottle in the mug.

The kitten eagerly latched onto the bottle, clearly hungry and ate almost two tablespoons before falling asleep.

Between Sango and Kagome they were able to feed and stimulate the kittens into peeing within thirty minutes. In the end, it turned out that the black and all gray ones were girls, and that the grey and white one was a boy.

Kagome and Sango leaned back and relaxed against the couch, the kittens asleep in the basket, which was filled with the pillow, the heating pad and a few blankets.

"Didn't you say you had to go somewhere?" Kagome asked as she stretched.

"Yeah, but I'm just gonna blow it off, those kittens are exhausting," Sango responded before looking through the bags again, "why did you buy a playpen?"

"So that the kittens can exercise and build up their strength in their legs," Kagome responded as she took it out of the bag, followed by some blankets, "and the blankets are to surround it, so that there are no holes and they can't get out and get stepped on."

"And the ribbons and bells?" Sango asked as she took out the said items.

"For the kittens to wear, so we can hear where they are," Kagome said as she put a bell in the middle of each ribbon, placing them on the table for later.

"How was the temple yesterday?" Sango asked while she pet the kittens, who purred in their sleep.

"Oh fine, Grampa and mom send their hello's by the way," Kagome responded as she went to the kitchen for some water, "and they wanted to know if you were coming for the festival next week."

"Of course I'm going!" Sango responded.

"Good, because they already set up my old room so we can spend the whole three nights there," Kagome said laughing, "so where'd you have to go that you ended up blowing off?"

"Oh, just to meet some guy for a cup of coffee," Sango responded from her spot on the couch, "he's been asking me out for a while, and I finally agreed, I guess I'll call him to tell him I'm not gonna be able to make it." She said as she moved toward the phone.

Miroku sighed as he hung up the phone just as he walked through the door of his apartment.

Damn, I was so close! She had finally agreed to meet me outside of work! He thought as he slumped in his seat.

He had been in love with Sango since their work had caused them to cross paths for the first time three years ago. She was beautiful, strong, intelligent, funny and had the body of a goddess……my god those breasts….

Miroku was snapped out of his daydream by his phone ringing again.

Shaking his head and guessing he'd need a cold shower as soon as possible he quickly took his phone from his pocket and answered it.

"Miroku," Sesshomaru said as he walked toward the living room, "what did the search uncover?"

"Nothing, the train is clean and so were both stops," Miroku responded as he slumped on the couch, "we've obtained the security videos from the inside of the subway and the stops and we're running them through the computer as we speak."

"Good, we want to keep this silent for as long as possible, but unless we unearth some useful information, we may have to bring in the slayers for help," Sesshomaru responded, "keep me updated."

"Of course," Miroku said before the phone cut off, leaning against his couch and sighing into his hands.

He loved working with Sango, but he didn't want to bring her into this, not into anything involving Naraku. He knew the man's reputation of what he did to female enemies, how he would capture them and keep them as play things, breaking their spirits before killing them.

Miroku shuddered as he thought about Sango, hurt and violated.

Never! He swore, anger overtaking him.

He would make sure that Sango NEVER got even remotely involved with the jewel or Naraku.

With this new resolve, he got up to change clothes.

He had work to do.

AN: PLEASEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE review? Pretty, pretty please?


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer- **We do not own Inuyasha and we are making no money off this fic.

**Naraku**

_Knock, knock, knock._

Naraku cracked one eye open and glared at the door, half hidden under his sheets. If that infernal knocking didn't stop, someone was going to _die. _

"Father?" Kagura called through the door and Naraku scowled. Now what did she want?

"Hurry up." he ordered, studying his daughter as she swept into his room. Luckily for her, they shared many of the same features, if she had looked like her mother he wouldn't have put up with her for so long. Similar long wavy black hair was contained tightly with a feather tie, her slender, lean body was covered with a modest business suit and the same red eyes stared back at him, scarlet tipped claws clutching a vanilla folder. The only thing that remained her mothers was that strong, stubborn chin.

"Good afternoon father." Kagura said respectfully, perching on the edge of a chair next to his bed, shadows under her eyes.

He grunted in response, still drowsy from the five Advil's he had taken last night to help him sleep.

"I've drafted a course of action to acquire the jewel, per your suggestion." she told him, smoothly opening the folder and laying it down for him to study.

Interested, Naraku sat up and took it from her. He honestly hadn't thought she would really take him up on his silent challenge.

Kagura laid her hands in her lap, looking perfectly composed while inside she was a nervous wreck. "As you can, it is completely detailed out, step by step. All it requires is your signature."

"You've even set up a time-line." Naraku noted, impressed. "You really think we can get it back in two weeks?"

Kagura nodded, allowing herself to cautiously hope he would approve of it. Approve of her.

He groped his side table for a pen and signed his name with a flourish. "Have fun." he told her and yanked the covers back over his head, so glad he wouldn't have to deal with another migraine.

When her father's head disappeared under the covers, a huge smile spread over Kagura's face.

Finally! She was getting the chance to prove herself to her father!

She held the folder to her chest, feeling like a giddy schoolgirl. This would finally earn his respect and love, she _knew _it.

She got up, eager to begin.

"And Kagura?" her father's voice stopped her, muffed by the covers. "Do I really need to say what will happen should your plan fail?"

"No father." Kagura knew if she couldn't get the jewel for her father, with one snap of his fingers he could easily order her death sentence.

But that didn't stop her, she _would _succeed, she would outlive her mother's legacy and carve a place for herself in her father's life.

And if she did lose? Then he could do what he wished with her.

**Sesshomaru and Inuyasha**

"You know-" Inuyasha paused to twirl a strand of Ramen around his fork, "I know I said the vault in the library is cliche, but this? This totally tops it." he said, using his fork to indicate the meeting room he and Sesshomaru were waiting for the others in. It was a large, narrow room with a screen covering the entire front wall. The long table stretched out so it could fit twenty people easily, the dark surface shone brightly under the light while Inuyasha sprawled comfortably in his elaborately carved chair. "Seriously, we should shake things up a bit and have our top secret, we-have-to-save-the-world meetings in the kitchen."

Sesshomaru looked at his brother from his seat at the head of the table. "You just want to be closer to the stove for when you want more ramen." he said dryly.

Inuyasha shrugged, holding his precious ramen jealously close. "That to."

A knock sounded at the door and Jaken poked his head in, his large eyes filled with adoration as he looked at Sesshomaru. "The others are here my lord."

"Show them in." Sesshomaru ordered, not bothering to look at his servant.

"Right away my lord!" Jaken squealed, eager to be of any help to his beloved lord.

Inuyasha glared at his brother, "Why couldn't you have followed stereotypes and gotten an ancient, British, snobby butler instead of that creepy toad?"

Sesshomaru was saved from answering when Kouga pushed past a squawking Jaken and took a seat, rolling his eyes at Inuyasha's ramen. Inuyasha snarled back.

Miroku Kato followed close behind Kouga, wondering if he would have to sit between the two 'men' again. Honestly, those two idiots acted worse then Shippo and they were more then five times his age. Speaking of which, had anyone remembered to pick up Shippo from school...?

"No need to thank me men." Hiten drawled as he walked through the door, Shippo tucked firmly under his arm, his cheeks bright red. "I have our favorite little runt."

Shippo looked innocently up at him, "Vai morire in un fuoco che brucia merda faccia." (Italian- Go die in a burning fire shit face)

Hiten scowled and set him down in a chair. "You're lucky I can't speak Spanish..._yet._"

Sesshomaru glanced up at him, "It is Italian." he informed him cooly. "Are we ready to begin?"

Kouga laced his hands together behind his head, fingers tangling in the jet black strands of hair he bound to the top of his head, "Hit it."

Sesshomaru ignored him, calmly laying his hands on the table and crossing his fingers together. "I do not believe I will have to go into any major details as I am sure you have all read your reports on this matter-"

Shippo cautiously raised a tiny paw, "Uh, excuse me Sesshomaru, I had a math test I needed to study for..."

Inuyasha huffed, "Feh. Figures you would be the only one to come unprepared runt."

"Like you're one to talk. You've been around for centuries but your _still _not smart enough to get into community college, much less Yale." Shippo shot back.

"Inuyasha, eat your ramen." Sesshomaru ordered before Inuyasha could open his mouth. The others moaned when they noticed Sesshomaru's back get even stiffer, knowing he was about to go into Serious Lecture mood.

"As you're aware Shippo, Inuyasha and I started the first Tashio Corporation for the main purpose of providing a cover up organization to use to search for magical and potentially dangerous objects."

Inuyasha frowned, drinking deeply from his Ramen cup. That was a bit of a understatement. Three centuries ago, Sesshomaru had chosen to legally cut off his ties to power in Western Japan, (not that Sesshomaru still didn't 'offer' a few suggestions to the new government every now and then) therefore making it harder to acquire the priceless treasures he and his brother had committed themselves to finding. Starting up their own 'little' business had actually proved to give them more power and wealth then when they had been kings, and made searching for objects much smoother then ever before. Items like the Holy Grail, the spear that pierced Christ, a bit of soil from a fairy mound, Hermes's sandals, Excalibur, the golden fleece and the like had been safely theirs for centuries, far away from those like Naraku who swore to missus them.

Inuyasha and Sesshomaru both knew the price of such treasures falling into the wrong hands.

Inuyasha closed his eyes briefly as faces flashed through his eyes. His father. His mother. Little Rin.

_Kikyo._

Sesshomaru typed a few things into the keyboard imbedded into the table in front of him and a picture of an oil painting sprang up on the wall behind him. It was a tranquil scene with a beautiful goddess kneeling next to a koi pond, her hand under the water while it clutched a round, shining pink stone.

"That stone you see the woman holding is the reason Inuyasha and I started all this. It is also the only known drawing of the Sacred Jewel."

Shippo's brows furrowed. "I've never heard of such a thing." he admitted.

Kouga's mouth fell open mockingly, "The boy genius doesn't _know something_?" he asked in fake shock.

Sesshomaru looked at them until they quieted down. "Not much is known about the jewel, Kikyo never revealed its true purpose to us. The only thing our researchers have been sure about is that it is of great power, and is possibly one of the most dangerous objects we have tried to take. Because of certain circumstances, the jewel had disappeared five hundred years ago. It resurfaced sometime early yesterday but Naraku had gotten to it first. Inuyasha was able to secure it five hours later after Miroku had formed a plan for its capture-" Miroku nodded in acknowledgment, "But it seems Inuyasha was unable to hold onto it."

"Dumb mutt." Kouga muttered under his breath.

"Want to repeat that?" Inuyasha growled.

Hiten continued to study the painting, "How much power can a rock from a pond contain though?" he mused.

Inuyasha and Sesshomaru shared a look, "Well enough." Sesshomaru answered for them as he taped away on his keyboard again and brought the security tapes up. "I received the tapes from Miroku's office a few hours ago. Perhaps the demons will be able to see something the humans missed."

Sesshomaru tapped a command into his keyboard and the tape began to play, while Inuyasha prayed a certain...activity wouldn't be caught on film.

They watched as the train appeared in view and slowly rolled to a stop. Inuyasha winced slightly and lost his appetite for a nanosecond as Sesshomaru closed up on him kissing the living daylights out of that woman.

Kouga's mouth fell open, "You lost the jewel and your busy cleaning some broad's tonsils??" he roared in disbelief.

"I didn't know the jewel was lost! And I was trying to hide my face from the goons naraku sent after me!" Inuyasha argued back, even though his first instinct was to explain she wasn't just 'some broad'.

'Course, that didn't sound so great when he didn't even know her name.

Shippo made a disgusted face, "Ewww Inuyasha, what are you _doing_?"

Miroku didn't know if he wanted to be offended that Inuyasha was busy swapping spit with a random woman on the subway when he should be guarding the jewel with his life, or cheering his best friend on. _Finally _Inuyasha was showing some interest in sex! To be honest he had been getting worried. He frowned and looked closer at the girl. Should she look so familiar?

Hiten groaned and rubbed his eyes, "Ow. Did _not _need to see that."

Sesshomaru glared at Inuyasha. "You imbecile."

"I can't believe you! That was not the time to be proving you're not gay!" Kouga yelled.

"I've always been straight you mangy wolf!"

Miroku squinted at the woman. Was she the woman who worked behind the Starbucks counter?

"Could have fooled me mutt."

"Like that's all that hard."

Maybe she was the one who did his dry cleaning? Wait, no, the last cute woman moved away last month...

"I should have been the one to get the jewel, I never would have let myself get distracted like that."

"You get distracted trying to solve a three piece puzzle. Naraku would have killed you and used your hide as a welcome mat." Inuyasha sneered.

...oh crap. He really, really hoped she wasn't that woman he spent the weekend with up in Vermont that one time.

"Enough!" Sesshomaru ordered, the table falling silent. "Naraku will not be the only one you have to worry about if you do not pull yourselves together." Sesshomaru warned.

He waited a few moments to make sure he had everyone's attention. "Shippo, I am emailing a copy of these tapes to you. Find _something._"

Shippo nodded, though he wasn't entirely happy about having to watch Inuyasha make out, "I'll do my best."

"The rest of you, use whatever tools you have at your disposal to find the jewel quietly. We don't need to let on to Naraku we do not have the jewel either. Spilt the city up and spread out. I have a meeting in half an hour with a company in Hawaii. Do not contact me unless you have the jewel."

Sesshomaru ordered, pushing back from the table. The others took that as a sign that the meeting was over.

Sesshomaru paused to look at his brother, "We will talk about this later." he told him, getting an annoyed eye roll in response.

Jaken stuck his green head through the conference door, "My lord! The helicopter is ready!"

Sesshomaru nodded, "I will be back by tomorrow evening." he looked at everyone, "Do not get distracted."

"'Do not get distracted.'" Inuyasha mocked after his brother left the room, tipping the rest of his ramen into his mouth. "Sometimes that guy really pisses me off..."

Especially since the warning had only lodged the woman even further into his mind.

**Kagome**

Sango ducked her head and tried to hide her yawn from Kagome, only to receive a smirk in response. "Aww look at that, Sango the Feared Demon Slayer, wiped out by a few kittens."

Sango glared back, absently toying with one of the silver bells around the kitten's neck. "I would have you know, these kittens would strike fear into the hearts of the most evil demons I've faced down. One look in their little eyes and it makes you want to melt and say the most disgusting baby talk." she explained, covering her mouth when another yawn hit her.

Kagome gently took the kitten from Sango's grasp and placed it in the pen with the others. "You were out pretty late last night. Why don't you go take a nap? I'll be home late from work and the temple, so I'll throw something together you can just heat when you wake up." Kag suggested, concerned for her best friend.

"Thanks. I didn't even realize how tired I was." She got up, blinking rapidly. "What time are you done at the temple? I'll come walk you home."

Kagome frowned, "Probably around nine or ten. Sango." Kagome paused, searching for the right words. "Is there something you want to talk about? You've been so overprotective lately. It's unusual, even for you. Is something wrong?"

Sango looked at her for a long moment, before turning away to stare at the floor. Her eyes studied the stain next to Kagome's foot like it was the most memorizing thing in the world. "...the nightmares have come back." she finally said quietly.

Kagome's heart hit her stomach and her mouth went dry. She swallowed, trying to force some moisture down her tight throat. "You mean..."

"I know we've talked about this Kag. But it seems like every time I get these particular nightmares something bad happens. And these dreams I've been having...they're exactly like how he described."

"Goddamn it Sango, that is not true!" Kagome suddenly shouted, "There _is _no curse. I've poured hours and hours into research for it, it's not there. _You. Are. Fine. _You've been overly stressed from the job and the mortgage, that's all this is."

Sango didn't look up from the stain as Kagome's ragged breathing and the delicate chiming from the kitten's bells filled the silence between them.

"I really want to believe that Kagome. And I would if the nightmares were the typical baggage from the job type. But these dreams..." Sango licked her lips nervously. "These dreams are about our birth mothers Kag."

... ... ...

Kagome stormed into work, sweaty from taking the long walk over to the library. She felt bad about going out of her way to avoid Sennin, but she really couldn't deal with any his prophesy crap today. If she heard anyone talking about curses and fate seriously again, she was going to break down.

She strode into her office and shut the door, not in the mood to be friendly with her staff right now. She sat down heavily in her chair and sat back to study the degree that hovered above her desk, proclaiming to everyone who stepped inside Kagome Higurashi had graduated_ cuma sum laude _in library science.

_Higurashi _damn it. She had been one for so long she couldn't even recall what her previous name had been and didn't care enough to look it up. And it didn't matter what some curse or predication said, it was going to stay that way.

Kagome shook her head, enough with this. A dream was a dream. _It was not real. _She had other things to worry about.

Sighing, Kagome logged onto her computer and checked the call number for a few books on kittens. She had read the majority of them when she had been younger, but the library had acquired a few new items she hadn't had time to read until now.She looked up the number of a local animal hospital and made a mental note to talk to a vet who often came in. The more information she had on rasing those kittens, the better.

The same could be said of that damn curse to unfortunately.

Gritting her teeth, she brought up her email and typed a quick note off to a friend in a nearby college. She really hadn't wanted to do this, but she _needed _to see that book. She had read thesis's written about it, talked to librarians and professors who had seen it, but maybe it was finally time to study the damn thing for herself.

She sent the letter off before she had time to regret her decision and turned her attention to a email Ayame had sent her, the subject line screaming READ ME NOW!! when her cell phone rang.

She picked it up and grinned, her mood lightening when she saw her mother on the caller I.D.

"Mom!" Kagome said happily. "Hey, how about I pick up Chinese food before I come by to the temple so you don't have to cook tonight?"

"Kagome." Her mother said tensely, her voice strained. "Something's happened."

_Sango!!_ "What's wrong mom?"

"The well...it's been completely destroyed."

**AN: REVIEW!!** Pretty please?


	6. Chapter 6

Penthesileia: Hey, CPH finally wrote her part!!!! Yay! Everyone send her lots of nice reviews!

Disclaimer: We do not own Inuyasha and we are not getting any money off this.

* * *

"Knock your first arrow!"

A dozen bows lifted in the air, each fitted with a sharply pointed arrow.

"Find your anchor!….Fire!"

Twelve arrows simultaneously flew through the air, hitting their marks with deadly force….

Kagome smiled as the children shot their quiver of arrows, shooting one after the other until all six were gone and then looking excitedly at the target ten yards away to see who had gotten the best shot.

"Okay, you may retrieve your arrows, and mark what score you got on your papers," Kagome said, nodding her head to the bales of hay with large, multi-colored bull's eyes.

Kagome smiled again and looked around while her young charges raced each other to the bales, their cheers indicating some had scored very well. The festival seemed to be a success. People were coming in hoards and they had only been open for a few hours.

Food stands had been set up all over the temple grounds, as well as games and a stage for musicians and the play that would take place on the third day. The fireworks were already being set up for the first night's display. There were groups of families and school children all over the place! Her grandfather was besides himself with glee, selling hoards of beads, sutras and replicas of ancient weapons and legendary articles, as well as telling his old stories of feudal times to people who actually listened.

Of course one of the major draws were the demonstrations that were scheduled throughout the day. From archery, sword fighting, to hand-to-hand combat, people came in droves to see modern day people use weapons they imagined their own ancestors used almost daily.

_Speaking of which…._Kagome thought as she looked to a nearby field, where Sango was currently showing a group of teenage boys how to properly dodge a side attack while simultaneously attacking with a wakizashi. Unfortunately for her pupils, she was doing this while wearing her slayer outfit, which consisted of a tight, black, cat-suit like outfit with pieces of pink armor at critical points, and the poor boys couldn't stop staring long enough to think about dodging her blows…._well the people want authentic, and that unfortunately includes the outfits._

Kagome herself was wearing the traditional miko outfit, complete with hakama and a long white kimono shirt with red sode-kukuri through the ends of the sleeves and a red obi around her waist, as well as traditional tabi and straw sandals. Her new favorite piece of jewelry was safely hidden away under her kimono.

_The things I do for family…._Kagome thought as she sighed and shook her bangs out of her face.

"Lady Kagome, Lady Kagome!"

Kagome smiled as she looked down towards two of the children who grinned widely up at her.

"Yes, what is it?"

"Lady Kagome, can you come play with us?" The little girl asked as she pulled at her hakama slightly, "we want to play the shadow game you showed us last time!" she said as more children came in hopes of cajoling their favorite adult into playing with them.

Kagome laughed as the children pulled at her to play.

"All right, all right!" she said and the children squealed in glee, "but only for a little while.." she said, and instantly saw their faces drop.

She smiled and continued, "or else we won't have time to go listen to the story the monk is going to tell us….", a few of the children seemed a bit skeptical, " I heard there were gonna be demons in it…". Instantly every child's eye lit up and widened, and that's when the questions began, leaving Kagome stranded in the middle of a small puddle of eager children.

Kagome laughed once again and thought about what a great day it was.

----

Miroku stood under the shade of the great God tree, leaning against his golden staff, his gaze directed at a field where several young men now sported welts and bruises.

_Children…_Miroku scoffed as his gaze fell upon the only person on the field with no visible injury.

She was magnificent, and not only because of the outfit, although if anyone asked for his say, he thought it should be illegal for her to wear anything else…unless of course that something else came from Victoria's Secret lingerie line….

Miroku shook his head…that line of thinking could only lead to trouble….besides, he was here for a reason, and that was to keep an eye on Sango.

She had been brought into the search three days ago, much to Miroku's unheeded protests to Sesshoumaru, and he was worried. Naraku probably knew she was involved by now, and that was dangerous, so when she mentioned that she would need a few hours off during the three days of the weekend for a festival she had to attend he had immediately volunteered to help in any way needed, even bringing up the fact that his family were practicing monks and had been for centuries. She had looked a little shocked at that bit of knowledge, but had seemed genuinely pleased at his offer and accepted.

So now, there he was, dressed in the long purple and blue robes of a Buddhist monk, the golden Shakujou's golden rings jingling slightly with every move he made. He was actually given a rather impressive amount of responsibilities when he arrived; not only was he to work at the gift shops and give lectures on the ways of ancient Buddhist monks to the people who asked, he was also supposed to perform some minor rituals, tell stories to the children and participate in the fighting demonstrations later on.

Miroku sighed and turned his gaze back to Sango as she gracefully dodged an attack by one of the boys and then, with the an almost feline ability, leaped up and landed behind him, blocking his attack a split second before it would have hit her and hooking her foot under him to make him fall down.

He watched as she lightly chastised him for not balancing himself better and then smiled and praised him for his quick thinking in his second attack. He smiled and waved over at her when she looked his way, and his heart almost burst from his chest when she smiled and waved back.

He hadn't been able to talk to her much during the day; they had met up outside in the early hours of the morning and she had introduced her to her friend's grandfather, the priest and caretaker of the shrine, as well as the mother and younger brother of her friend, Kagome if he remembered correctly, but he had yet to meet the young woman herself, who had been busier than everyone else combined, although he knew she was around the grounds somewhere.

"Are you ready for the children's story?" Sango, having somehow made her way over to him without him noticing…the woman wasn't a slayer, she was a ninja!

"Of course! I have plenty of them all planned out and ready to go, just tell me when and where," he replied and smiled his most charming smile at her, which she promptly dismissed with a raise of an eyebrow.

"Kagome is with the children right now, she told me she'd bring them in a few minutes here under the God tree" Sango said, looking up at the enormous tree's who's branches seemed to reach up to the heavens themselves.

"Ah, I finally get to meet the infamous Kagome," Miroku said with a grin.

"Yes, she's great," Sango said, and smiled sweetly, "and if you so much as look at her with a perverted intention, I'll castrate you with a spoon…and make you watch."

Miroku smiled and swallowed loudly….Sango might be a sex goddess, but she was terrifying when she smiled like that.

-----

Kagome herded the pack of children towards the tree that loomed ahead and was relieved to see Sango was already there. She loved the children, but two dozen of them hopped up on sugary treats and youthful energy could drain anyone.

"Ah, you must be Kagome," a handsome young man in monk robes smiled at her, "allow me to introduce myself, I am Miroku." He said with a bow and a devilish grin.

Kagome laughed at his antics and smiled warmly, "Oh you don't need any introduction Miroku, Sango has told me all about you." He seemed nice, she decided, though according to her best friend, he was somewhat of a lech.

"She has??" Miroku sounded very pleased at this development and this just made Kagome like him all the more, he was clearly taken with Sango.

Kagome couldn't help laughing at Sango's face, which went from annoyance, to anger, to embarrassment almost faster than she could register.

"I've only told her the truth!" Sango exclaimed.

"That I'm a charming and devilishly handsome man who's bound by the spell of your beauty?" Miroku inquired

"No! That you're a-" Sango stopped as she noticed the audience of small children around her feet, all of whom were watching the arguments with varying degrees of understanding, and none of whom she could say what she wanted to say about Miroku in front of.

Kagome swallowed a snort as Sango tried to cool down her blood pressure before she gave herself a stroke.

Miroku laughed slightly also and looked over at her…..and suddenly seemed puzzled.

"Have we met before Lady Kagome?" He asked, his voice sounding thoughtful, as if trying to remember when they had in fact met before.

"No, I don't think I've ever had the pleasure" Kagome said as she smiled at him, "but I'm glad we have now, you have to stop by the apartment once in a while to hang out with us," she said as Sango spit out the water she had been drinking, " in fact, I insist."

"What?!" Sango cried in dismay.

"Spend time with two beautiful women? How can I resist?" Miroku said, "Of course I accept!"

"Bu-but..but!" Sango stuttered as she tried to find a way to intervene.

"Lady Kagome!" one of the children, called out, "will Monk Miroku be telling the story soon?"

"Oh why yes!" Miroku suddenly said as he made his way to sit in front of the children, his back to the God tree, folding his legs under him. "I believe we shall start with the story of…."

Sango still stood dumbfounded as Kagome sat the children in front of Miroku, each one paying rapt attention as Miroku wove a very vivid tale for them about ancient monsters and brave heroes. Sighing and deciding it was best not to interrupt story time, Sango sat down on the grass also and listened to Miroku's soothing voice.

Oh, he was going to pay….

---

"….the old women, unable to control her greed, did not heed the advice of the sparrows and opened the basket halfway to the house. "They are just a bunch of foolish birds! What would they know!" The old woman claimed as she opened the large basket. But she was the fool, for out came ogres, snakes and demons of all kinds, spilling out and scaring her so badly that she slipped and fell down the slope of the mountain, tumbling down, never to be seen again."

Miroku finished the story and the children all clapped and stared wide eyed at one another.

"Tell us another monk Miroku!"

"Yes monk Miroku! Another, another!"

"Please monk Miroku?!"

Miroku chuckled and nodded his agreement and looked over at Sango and Kagome, both of whom were allowing their laps to be used as seats for the younger children.

"Why don't you kids go get some drinks first, and then meet back here for the next story in five minutes so that Monk Miroku can take a break?" Kagome suggested, noticing how Miroku had had to clear his throat a few times in the last story.

A few of the children "awed" with disappointment, but most of them scurried off, while the rest remained to talk amongst themselves about the stories they had heard so far. Sango went in search of some drinks for the three of them.

"Lady Kagome? Is the old woman all right? Did the demons eat her?" the little girl on Kagome's lap asked her.

"No, I'm sure she was all right, she probably made her own little house in the forest and lived there so the demons wouldn't find her," Kagome said soothingly.

The little girl grinned and snuggled against Kagome's neck. Kagome smiled lightly and patted her head with one hand, and reached for the drink Sango handed her with the other.

_She's a natural mother that one,_ Miroku thought as he looked over at the young woman, with the snuggling child before shifting his gaze to his beloved, who held out a can of soda to him. Taking a sip of the cold drink, he glanced back at Kagome and almost chocked on the liquid going down his throat.

….he KNEW he had seen her before!

---

Inuyasha was in his room at his condo trying to find something to do, anything. Not only was he no closer to finding the jewel, but he couldn't keep that woman out of his head! And the worst part was that he couldn't find HER either! They had both just disappeared!

He couldn't even hang out with Miroku because he was off trying to impress Sango by helping her out at a festival or something like that. The man just wouldn't give up, no matter how many times she handed his ass to him.

Sighing and picking up the notes scattered on his desk once again, he started to read through the latest information they had found on the legend of the sacred jewel. Luckily it had been decoded from whatever dead language it had been written in before being handed to him…that's another thing he wondered. If the jewel was of Japanese origin, why the hell was the legend written in some kind of coded mix of Latin, Greek, Spanish and French?!

He was still pondering that when his cell phone rang. He was so eager to end his boredom he would've even been excited if it was the mangy wolf calling, but instead it was Miroku.

"Hey, what's up? I thought you were at a festival or something." Inuyasha said as a way of greeting.

"….Inuyasha," Miroku's voice sounded weird on the line, like he was having a hard time breathing, either from excitement or nervousness.

Inuyasha frowned and sat down again, "Miroku….what's wrong? Why do you sound weird?"

He could hear him let out a loud breath, and he took a few seconds but he finally spoke. "Inuyasha, what is the one thing you really wanna find right at this very second?"

Inuyasha frowned once again, but then rolled his eyes and snorted, "You know that there are two things I really wanna find; the jewel and that girl. _I_ don't even know which one I want more."

Inuyasha could almost hear Miroku smirk.

"How about both?"

* * *

Penthesileia: My turn next!!!! Hope you've enjoyed it so far!


	7. Chapter 7

AN: New KK, yay!!!!! This one's alllllll mine. Let me know how I did!

Disclaimer: We do not own Inuyasha and we are making no money off this

* * *

"Where do you think Miroku is? It's been fifteen minutes." Kagome asked, glancing at the watch she had hidden away in one of her sleeves.

Sango rolled her eyes, absently balancing a kid on her hip. "Who knows, though he did almost choke on his soda just now." she shrugged, not overly concerned. "Mind hunting him down and breaking his neck for me? I can watch the kids."

"Oh I'll take care of him for you, don't worry." She responded looking as tough as she could, which was not very. She smiled gratefully, knowing Sango was subtlety telling her to go take a break, though she really could break his neck if she was serious.

"You're just sweet as sugar you know that?" Sango said, rolling her eyes before turning back to the kids. "Alright, enough story time kids, now do you want to see how a slayer would have taken care of those demons? And trust me, it's not by tripping down a hill." Sango asked the kids as she placed a hand instinctively on the sword by her side.

The kids cheered and the child Kagome had been holding squirmed out of her arms, running after the group following Sango back to her battle field, hanging on her every word as she described exactly how a slayer would disable the demons. "First I would use poison gas, making sure to wear my mask first and…" Sango's voice carried back to Kagome even with the sound of the festival trying to drown her out.

Kagome sighed, stretching to try to work some of the kinks out. It would be a long three days if she was already wiped out after a few hours.

"Hey, move it!" a feminine voice snapped as she pushed her way through the crowd. Kagome wince with the realization that everything she had been avoiding since that day in her office was finally coming to haunt her.

Ayame stomped her way out of the crowd before stopping just in front of Kagome, fists on her hips and her eyes glaring. "Kagome Higurashi" she gritted out from between her teeth. "Where. The. Hell. Have. You. Been?"

Kagome nervously tucked her hands into her sleeves, trying to calculate how far away the closest exit was and if she would have a chance to reach it before the pissed off red head caught her. If it was possible Ayame's frown deepened, as if daring her to try and run….so that was probably no on the escape plan. "Ummm, what are you talking about? I've been around-"

"Ok then why have you been avoiding me a week? I must have sent you twenty emails, called you a gazillion times and every time I tried to come over you were 'busy'. What's going on?" Ayame demanded.

Kagome glanced away guiltily. "I'm really sorry Ayame." she told her, unwanted thoughts bubbling up from where she had refused to acknowledge them. The well. The curse. That damned book. She rubbed her forehead, suddenly feeling tired and weary. "I shouldn't have ignored you because of my own problems. I'm on break do you want to go talk-" Kagome's phone buzzed, interrupting her peace offering though she could see Ayame was softening already. She flipped her screen open, a text message from her mother blaring:

SUM1 AROUND WELL. GO CHECK IT OUT

Kagome frowned, annoyed by the request and her mother's use of text speak. "Mom thinks someone's lurking around the well, want to go chase them out with me? It's private so we can talk to."

"Sure." Ayame said, easily falling into step next to her. "What happened anyway? Sango told me something about it being destroyed, but she didn't elaborate."

Kagome tucked the phone away, glad for the company even if she really didn't want to go back to the well. "We're still not really sure ourselves. When Gramps went to go sweep the leaves up, he found the well and the hut that covered it looking like someone had set a bomb off inside, though the police couldn't find any traces of explosives. Everyone's clueless on how it could have happened." Kagome explained, the noise and music of the festival fading with each step they took.

"We don't have the money to reconstruct it, so we'll probably have to bulldoze the remains, but we've got the government jumping down our throats about that too since the well's a historical site." Kagome let out a disgusted noise.

"It was that old?"

Kagome nodded, her long hakama swishing across the leaves that covered the courtyard more thickly. "It was more than 500 years old, it's actually older than the temple."

Kagome's stomach tightened when the charred and burnt remains of one of her temple's greatest treasures came into view sight. The well house had huge portions of the walls gutted out and the stairs, two of the walls and most of the roof ripped away. The well itself had only a few planks left, black ash blasted onto the dark wood so deep it could never be washed off.

"Damn. And the police couldn't find anything that caused it?" Ayame asked, shocked.

Kagome shook her hand, scanning for any figures that was loitering around the building. "Not one thing. No fire, bomb, or chemical did this."

"I don't see anyone." Kagome decided after a moment of looking around. "Mom must have been seeing things."

Ayame nodded, agreeing with her. "So anyway, I don't have anything quite as dramatic as your well mysteriously exploding, but I do think I found out something about that jewel."

Kagome's hand played with the jewel at her neck, rolling the little gem between her thumb and forefinger. "Ok." she said cautiously. "Shoot"

"Thank you, I think I will." Ayame cleared her throat. "So I've been going crazy researching the jewel you found since I was pissed off I couldn't identify it and because I promised you I would, despite the fact you didn't follow through on your promise to listen to my conclusion-"

Kagome frowned, "I never promised to listen." she argued.

Ayame gave her a look. "We're friends. You're automatically honor bound to listen to anything and everything I say, even if I'm ranting about how green the sky is today or how purple the sun is. Anyway, I've spent a lot of time trying to figure out what this jewel could possibly be. And I have one, very solid theory: I have no idea."

Kagome blinked in confusion. "What?"

Ayame sighed and raked her red hair across her head. "I've researched every single jewel known to mankind and I've found a few that come close but none of them are enough like this one, there's always something off about them." her brow furrowed thoughtfully. "I mean, we may as well assume that you discovered some new type of gem but..." she shook her head, trailing off. "I dunno, there's just something about this rock that's got my gut screaming."

The jewel...gem...rock...whatever, rolled between Kagome's fingers as she toyed with it. "Is it something manmade?"

"I thought that but it doesn't have any marks or signs that it was made by machine or even by hand. It's just to smooth, kind of like a river rock that's been in the water for hundreds of years, and it's perfectly round, something almost impossible to accomplish. This gem has really got me stumped. But that wasn't the most important thing I wanted to tell you."

"There's more?"

Ayame looked irritated. "Do you really think I sent you twenty emails just to tell you I didn't know what your rock is?" Her face lost the glower as her eyes rested on the purple stone peeking out through Kagome's fingers. "I was talked to a few people in the business, some sources I sometimes use when I get particularly difficult custom order. Apparently there were two buyers that have been asking about a jewel described as very, very similar to yours. Sesshomaru Taisho and Naraku Yamato."

Her eyes widened. "Oh wow, Taisho is that insanely rich guy right? I haven't heard of Yamato though."

Ayame shifted uncomfortably. "He's not as well known as Taisho but he's insanely rich. And...well I haven't heard very nice things about him. He's one of those guys who's probably heavily involved in the dark side of business but no one's ever been able to pin anything on him. It just really worries me that he's looking for a jewel that sounds like the one you have. I just want you to be careful."

Kagome titled her head, "Are you sure you're not being a little over dramatic Ayame? How bad could he be-"

"Bad." Ayame interrupted, her eyes haunted. "Just don't go flashing it around, ok?"

Kagome studied her before nodding. "Of course. I'll be careful. I'll even promise."

The strange look on Ayame's face was quickly replaced by relief. "Thanks Kag. You're probably right, I bet I am being dumb-"

_Crunch...Crunch...Crunch_

Both girls jumped at the sound of rustling leaves, their hearts suddenly pounding. "What was that? Is someone coming Kagome?" Ayame whispered.

Kagome instinctively made a grab for the bow across her shoulder only to remember it wasn't there. "Shh for a minute." Kagome ordered, trying to peer into the darkness.

_Scarppppppppppp. Scarpppppppppp. Scarppppppppppppp._

Grabbing Ayame's wrist, Kagome pulled her towards the well house and forced her to crouch down next to her as she peeked over the wall at the figure that was slowly become more visible as he walked strangely towards them, dragging something behind him.

Kagome's hands groped the ground until she found two thick pieces of wood. She handed the one piece to Ayame and motioned her to wait. Ayame nodded, understanding Kagome's silent cue.

The figure got closer, but his/her features still weren't clearly visible as he stopped beside the destroyed structure, looking around.

Quietly, Kagome and Ayame crept along the side of what was left of the wall, coming so close to the stranger they could almost hear him breath.

Kagome held up her hand as Ayame held the wood above her head. Three...

The stranger shuffled, scratching his head curiously.

Two...

Ayame clutched the wood tighter.

One...

"ARRRRRRRR!!!!" Ayame as she rushed out of the shadows, the wood flying down onto the man's shoulder.

And Hojo fell to the ground, arms flaying, his scream of pain almost louder then Ayame's battle-cry.

--------------------------------

Inuyasha passed up the sidewalks, preferring to leap across the rooftops as he made his way across town, the moonlight lighting his path like beacons. He didn't hear the slap of his feet, couldn't feel his blood rushing fast through his veins, and never noticed how hard his heart was pounding, both in exertion and in anticipation of the hunt. His entire focus was centered on only one purpose: to find that woman.

He could curse himself for letting her go the first time. He wouldn't make the same mistake twice.

His leap from the building was unusually graceful as he landed crouched in front of the stairs Miroku had promised would lead him to the festival and to the woman. He licked his lips hungrily as he slowly rose, remembering how she tasted. And how sweet she would taste again now that he had finally found her.

And of course it would be all the better with the jewel clutched tight in his palm.

...or maybe safely in his pocket, since he had other plans for his hands.

He stalked up the stairs, not feeling the strain as he got closer and closer. He closed his eyes and breathed deep, desperately needing to feel her scent tease him. His entire body was tense and almost trembling, primed to chase her down as soon as he let himself go.

_There_

Inuyasha's lips lifted, baring his teeth predatorily rather then in a smile as her scent just barely filtered through his senses.

She was his.

Flying up the remainder of the steps, he moved without thinking, every inch of his being targeted towards finding her. Her scent grew stronger as he ran, not noticing the wide berth the rest of the festivals revelers gave him, or the dark look that crossed some of the warriors faces.

Vanilla and cinnamon led him past the celebration and to a secluded part of the festival. He nearly growled in pleasure at the thought of having her all to himself, only to nearly gag at the female and the...male scent that dirtied hers. She didn't know it yet, but that male was definitely something he wouldn't allow.

His superior hearing twitched as he picked up conversation and he forced himself to slow down when everything in him was screaming to go faster.

"...I'm really, really sorry. We thought you were a creep...you know what, I'm not sorry! What the hell are you doing creeping around at night?!"

"Ayame! Hojo I'm sorry, how's your shoulder?" the woman's voice drifted over to him.

The demon inside him clamored for release. This was it. He had found her. She was his.

Having a lock on her now he leisurely walked towards her, not wanting to scare her by snatching her up without a word. He wanted the transition from here back to his home to be as smooth as possible.

"Oh Kagome it hurts." a male's whiny voice cut through Inuyasha's calm. He sniffed. "The chair is for you by the way."

"Is it? Um, thank you, it's a...that isn't a birthing chair is it Hojo?"

"It isn't only handy with pregnancy Kagome! It's also a excellent way to relieve back pain!"

"...er..."

Inuyasha quickened his pace. There was nothing wrong with a little fear was there? Hell, it might add spice and make a great 'how-we-met' story for their children one day.

He smirked when the woman stiffened her spine as soon as she was aware of him. "Hello?" she called out cautiously.

Inuyasha stepped closer, delighting in her gasp and the shock on her pretty face as she finally noticed him. "Hey babe. Told ya I'd be back."

His smirk faded though when he noticed the Sacred Jewel tucked tight around her throat.

And some bastard's hand on her body….


	8. Chapter 8

**AN:** Yay, new chapter! This one's from CPH, so make sure to tell her what a good job she did!

**Disclaimer: **We don't own Inuyasha….or at least I don't, dunno about Penthesileia…no…no she'd be rubbing my face in it if she did…*sighs* (I totally would by the way, mwhahaha)

* * *

**Chapter 8 **

"Hey babe, told you I'd be back."

Kagome's eyes widened as she looked at the man she had been daydreaming about for days, her body instantly getting warmer as she remembered their last encounter. Her lips pulled back into a smile by themselves but froze midway as she noticed his sudden shift.

Whereas just a second ago he had been completely relaxed, his body was now tight with tension and he was gazing coldly at something just to the right of her. Glancing to her side, she noticed Hojo had stood back up from where he had fallen on the ground and was holding on to her arm to steady himself. She looked back at the man and before she could even blink he was gone…and at her side, grabbing Hojo by the neck and slamming him against a tree a dozen yards away.

"You DARE TOUCH HER?!" He all but growled as he cut off Hojo's air supply, slamming his

head against the tree once more.

Hojo's head was alarmingly limp by the time Kagome was at his side, pulling on the, admittedly hot, stranger's hand. "STOP!" She yelled, pulling on the arm holding on to Hojo's neck…the guy might be a pain but this was serious!

Inuyasha instantly relaxed his grip on Hojo and the poor man slid to the floor, gratefully unconscious. He stared as the young woman before him checked the annoying weakling he had been removing from her site for a pulse.

"What the hell did you think you were doing?!" Kagome yelled up at him as soon as she made sure Hojo would live.

"Punishing this idiot for touching you?" Inuyasha asked looking confused and a little irritated.

"Who the hell asked you to?!" Kagome wondered out loud, wishing she had come prepared with some kind of blunt object so she could smack him.

Now Inuyasha was annoyed, and he bit down on his anger, trying to stop himself from saying something he'd regret…..oh screw it.

"No one asked me to….but no one, no MAN is allowed to touch you, especially not while I'm in the nearby vicinity to help enforce that statement!"

Kagome's eyes widened, her mind spinning as she stared at him in disbelief….which was quickly followed by anger.

"And just who the bloody hell do you think you are?!"

Inuyasha thought his eye would twitch he was so annoyed….this was not going the way he thought it would…he was supposed to get here, woo her off her feet, get the jewel back and give it over to his brother and then spend the rest of his life playing out every single fantasy he had ever had with the incredibly beautiful woman standing in front of him….and she was yelling at him!

Growling with a mixture of anger, annoyance and lust he grabbed her shoulders and pulled her to him, kissing her with all the desire and frustration he had been feeling since their last encounter.

Her body instantly molded to his, as she instinctively kissed him back. The demon in him practically purred with pleasure.

_Mine….Mate…._

Inuyasha reluctantly separated from her, holding her against his chest and staring into her face, pleased to see her bedazzled look as well as the response of desire in her eyes.

"My name's Inuyasha," he said, smirking as her body reacted to the name, "and I, Beloved, am your mate, just as you are mine."

Kagome stilled her mind racing as his words hit her denial setting in pretty quickly. This was partly because she wasn't used to random guys claiming to be her mate and partly because the second he said it, she knew it was true….

Inuyasha looked down at his mate, his inner demon, feeling like he would burst with joy at the thought of it all…he had found her! His mate, his-

"ARRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!" The yell cleared Kagome's head just as Inuyasha was slammed from her arms by a birthing chair wielding Ayame.

"Ayame what are you-?" Kagome began before Ayame followed through with another blow to Inuyasha's head as he tried to pick himself up, the chair's metal frame denting where it had hit him.

Throwing the chair to the side, Ayame went at him again with her piece of wood, barely missing impaling him to the ground as he rolled out of the way.

Ayame leaped after him, knocking him to the ground before taking a deep breath, squaring her shoulders and opening her mouth.

"SAAAAANGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Kagome, still recovering from the shock of the last few minutes, paused to marvel at the lung capacity Ayame seemed to possess just as Sango appeared, sprinting into view.

Looking around, Sango took in the sight of Hojo's unconscious body, Kagome's rumbled clothing and dazed expression, Ayame's dirty clothing from rolling around on the ground and a strange man lifting himself up from the floor and her eyes lit with anger.

"YAAAAAAAAARRRRGGG!!!!!!" She screamed as she leaped into the air, removing her sword from its sheath while in the air and aiming for Inuyasha's heart.

If Inuyasha had been anything other than a demon he wouldn't have survived the attack, and as it was he took the blade to his shoulder as he moved out of the way, using the weight she was putting on the sword to impale him against her and throwing her on her back with his feet.

Removing the sword from his shoulder, he threw it as far as he could just as a mist of poison gas appeared not two feet from where he stood, causing him to become momentarily disoriented, which was all Sango needed.

"STOP!" Kagome yelled, not knowing to whom she was speaking.

Retracting her dagger gauntlets, Sango ignored the warning as she skillfully crept up behind him, knocking his legs out from under him and pinning him down with one hand as she raised the other to slash at his throat.

Inuyasha's eyes flashed red as he threw her off of him, rising to his legs before she even hit the ground and grabbing her by the leg, swinging her around to throw her in the air while simultaneously striking Ayame with his left leg in the stomach, knocking her down a dozen yards away.

Inuyasha growled and turned back to where Sango had landed, unconscious, crouching down, muscles tense and preparing to attack…when a hand stopped him.

_Mate…_

"Stop," Kagome said, looking up into his eyes, noting the instant they changed back to the golden color she loved.

"Sango!" Miroku yelled as he arrived at the scene. He bent over Sango checking her over to see if there was any real damage. "She'll be fine," he answered Kagome's unasked question with a sigh of relief and a glare at Inuyasha, "but she's gonna be incredibly pissed when she comes to."

----

A few hours later after Miroku had put Hojo in a Taxi heading home after assessing that Inuyasha had done very little actual harm to him, which just about shocked everyone who'd known him for more than three minutes.

Ayame had also been given a clean bill of health and Sango had been relieved of her weapons and locked in a linen closet with a surprisingly sturdy door until she cooled down and Inuyasha and Kagome sat down to have a very long, very complicated talk.

"So you're a demon?"

"Half demon," Inuyasha corrected sitting across from her in the living room of her mother's house.

"Half demon right. But you have a human form?"

"Most demons with royal blood have a human form, helps us blend in with the general populous."

"Right. And you're the son of InuTaisho….the incredibly powerful demon lord who ruled the West of Japan for over a millennia? Who destroyed countless armies of demons during the feudal era and formed the three swords of power from his fangs?"

"Dear old dad."

"…and I'm your Mate?"

Inuyasha suddenly looked both incredibly pleased and serious as he grabbed both of her hands in his, "Yes, you are my Mate."

Kagome shook her head, noticing her hands tingled where they touched his… "and what does that mean exactly?"

"Mates are basically the demon version of what humans call 'soul mates', they are born to be with their demon," Inuyasha explained as he rubbed small circles with his thumb onto her hand, "it's very rare for a demon to actually find a mate since they will not be able to detect them until they have had some sort of physical contact with them."

"Physical contact like playing tonsil hockey in a train?"

Inuyasha smirked at the memory, "Exactly."

"What's gonna happen to me exactly?"

Inuyasha sighed and leaned back on the chair. "A few things actually, for one you're going to be basically immortal now, or as close as someone can get without being a God," Inuyasha explained as he watched for her reaction, "you'll be harder to kill than the killer in a slasher film, and you'll live for as long as I do, which is almost impossible to guess how long. You'll also be able to channel some of my powers."

"What if I don't want to be a Mate?"

Inuyasha's eyes flashed with an emotion that seemed so hurt and heartbreakingly sad that Kagome immediately regretted the question, but just like that the moment passed and his eyes were back to their normal warm self.

Inuyasha smirked, "Sorry babe, doesn't work that way. You were born to be a Mate, and you can't change that."

Kagome sat thinking. Personally she thought she was handling this very well considering all the new information that was going through her mind…

"Wait a minute, you said I'm GOING to be basically immortal….I'm not now that you found me?"

Inuyasha hesitated before nodding, "I haven't technically claimed you yet..."

"So I don't have to be a Mate? If you haven't claimed me?"

"No," Inuyasha responded, shifting in his seat, " you were born to be a Mate…but since I haven't claimed you, another demon can try claiming you."

Kagome frowned, "Wait….I'm not YOUR Mate?? I'm just a random Mate that can be claimed by anyone?!"

Inuyasha was on her before she even finished the sentence, slamming both arms on either side of her head and kissing her senseless before she could draw her breath.

"You…are…MY…Mate!" He growled out against her mouth, kissing a trail down her jaw before burying his head in her neck and breathing her scent. "Any demon comes near you will have to challenge me to a battle to the death for the honor of claiming you."

Kagome's eyes widened as she unconsciously wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling his head down closer to her, "You can't do that! You could die!"

Inuyasha smirked against her throat, "Trust me Beloved, it'd take a hell of a lot to kill me."

"B..but earlier today, Sango and Ayame…they were.."

"Friends of yours who I didn't want to hurt, I held back until the slayer started going in for the kill," he took one more sniff of her neck and then pulled back to look her in the eye.

"As much as I'm enjoying this, there is something else we have to discuss…specifically that thing hanging around your neck. I don't exactly enjoy having my Mate wear a bulls-eye on her person with all the demons in the area."

Kagome's eyes widened, she was surprised they hadn't popped out of her head for all they were doing that today, and her hand reached for the jewel around her neck.

"What do you mean, 'Bull's-eye??"

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AN: This would be the part where all you little darlings **review**!


	9. Chapter 9

AN: Yay new chapter! (It's all mine by the way)

Disclaimer: We don't own Inuyasha and we are not making any money off this.

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Sango bucked hard against the wood, feeling the door give a little more. Her back ached from the abuse she was putting it through, so she gave herself a break as she worked on the ropes around her wrist.

Goddamn that bastard for tying her up so well. As soon as she out of here and had killed that white-haired freak, she was going after Miroku next and breaking every bone in his hands.

Her feet took over kicking the door, feeling the frame soften some more. She felt bad for damaging the Higurashi's house, but she could repay them later. After she had saved Kag.

Her steel-toed boots slammed into the door, taking all her frustration and fear out on the innocent wood. She had seen that look in that beast's eyes as Miroku had dragged her away from the two and into the house. She knew he wanted her best friend, her sister. But there was no way in hell she would let that happen. Even if it hadn't been for him knocking her on her ass, there was no way anyone could confuse him for a nice, meek guy. The ripped muscles, long, rebel hair and that feral swagger spoke well enough. He was dangerous.

Sango held back a triumphant cry as the ropes holding her arms behind her back began to loosen. She would kill this loser fast and get right back to work finding Kagome a nice, safe, normal guy to look out for her. She didn't want a warrior for her, just an accountant.

The ropes slackened and Sango shook them off, quietness overtaking her for a moment as she rubbed her wrists. She knew there wasn't much time left for her, despite Kagome's protests about what was real and what was trickery. All that mattered was making sure her sister would be safe and happy when she was gone, by any means necessary.

And there was no way Kagome could be safe hanging around men who nearly begged for trouble to come knocking on their doors.

Shoving her melancholy away, she plucked the dagger out she had hidden away in her ponytail. She might be a dead woman walking, but she had enough time left to drag that mutt down with her.

Kagome's hand didn't leave the jewel as Inuyasha studied it, his eyes examining her slender fingers as well as the gem's purple surface.

"That jewel isn't safe to carry around like some kind of trinket Mate." Inuyasha said absently as he followed the little circles Kagome rubbed into the gem hungrily.

"What do you mean by 'bull's eye' though?" Kagome asked. "What is this stone anyway?"

They both jumped when a sudden squeal of laughter from the festival broke through the quiet and Inuyasha quickly tucked Kagome under his arm and moved them further away.

She flinched and jerked away, "Be careful! You had a sword going through your shoulder-" Kagome trailed off as Inuyasha rolled up his sleeve to show off his shoulder, nearly white and smooth expect for a pink scar.

Inuyasha fought to keep the male amusement off his face at Kagome's shock despite how cute it was. "I heal fast." he informed her, wrapping his arm back around as he begin to walk.

"And that bull's eye is called the Sacred Jewel. You have no freakin' idea how many demons are after it." he told her, his hand spread out over her hip as if he wanted to touch as much of her as possible.

Kagome really wanted to hate it, but the way he was holding her, while possessive, was still really nice. "So why's it so important?" she tried to distract herself.

"...er, well. It's very rare..."

Kagome frowned, "That's all?"

"...well..." Inuyasha struggled to say, trying to decide best how to tell her he had no fucking idea what the jewel did.

Kagome's cell phone suddenly rang, interrupting Inuyasha's stutter. "Sorry." she murmured as she flipped it open. "Hello?"

"Kagome! Where have you been? It's been ages since I sent you out. Are you alright? Was there really a prowler near by?" her mother asked fearfully.

Kagome blushed guiltily, remembering her duties at the festival for the first time since Inuyasha had shown up. "I'm sorry mom, but don't worry, there wasn't anyone there. I'll go back to the festival now."

"Thanks hon, by the way, have you seen Sango anywhere?"

Inuyasha smirked as Kagome mumbled something and snapped her phone shut, using his superior vision to see how red the tips of her ears were.

"Ok, I have to go back to the festival. Do you just want to give me your number and I'll get back to you?"

Inuyasha's smirk abruptly turned into a frown. "You're coming with me. There's no fucking way in hell I'm leaving you again."

Kagome stiffened, a strange look going over her face. "No I'm not. Look, I semi-appreciate all the things you said about mates and me, but it's soon to go anywhere with you considering we've only been in each others company a full hour." Kagome explained, trying to back out of his arms only to find they kept her pressed to him like steel bands.

Inuyasha's face only turned darker as she began to push at his arms, trying not to get worried. "One hour, a thousand hours, it doesn't matter." he leaned down until his nose was barely brushing the tip of hers. "Don't you feel it to?"

Kagome bit her lip as she stopped struggling and gently laid her hands on his chest. "I feel...something." she admitted. "But I just...I don't think I should trust it yet."

Inuyasha's hand's relaxed enough for him to cup the back of her neck with one palm. "Then trust me. Nothing will ever hurt you as long as I live." he swore.

Kagome felt her heart break and her resolve weaken just a little bit.

But not enough to give in. She wouldn't be that stupid twice.

"I'm not saying I don't want to see you again." Kagome assured. "I want to make sure."

Inuyasha studied her face intently before his lip curled. "Someone hurt you once. Tell me who and I'll rip out his heart."

Kagome sighed, wishing it was that easy. "Don't worry about it. But here." she reached between them to get her phone. "Give me your number and I'll call tomorrow for...coffee?"

She looked so hopeful Inuyasha didn't want to tell her he preferred Ramen to just about anything else. His demon roared up, demanding he toss her over his shoulder and run, damn the consequences, at least she would be with them, where she belonged.

He wrestled it down though, sensing something his mate wasn't being forthcoming about. So he would 'leave' but only long enough to grab a change of clothes from home. Then he would find a tree nearby and just crash. That way, he could watch out for her and still respect her wishes.

And he could 'drop in' if she failed to call him after all.

Snatching the phone out of her hand and trying to ignore the warmth that burst in his chest at her happy face, he punched in his info, one arm still tight around her waist.

He slipped the phone into the pocket of her miko outfit, relishing the contact even if several layers blocked her skin. He couldn't wait till he could peel her out of all those clothes and lay her out and...

He shook his head, wanting to wait until later to pursue those thoughts. His attention returned to the jewel wrapped around her neck, knowing that was definitely something he would not negotiate over.

His hand slid to the back of her neck while he dragged her close, wanting her lips along with the jewel. As his mouth touched her, his fingers groped along the back of her neck, trying to find the lock to the chain.

He nearly groaned, she tasted so damn good. She better get over her hang-ups fast. Not that he would ever force her, but he could see himself taking a lot of cold showers in the future.

While his lips were busy devouring hers, his fingers were busy finding the lock right...there.

"Fuck!" Inuyasha cursed as heat met his fingers, so hot it felt like his flesh would melt away.

Kagome's eyes went wide. "What? What's wrong?"

Inuyasha hurriedly shoved his hand into his pocket, unwilling to let her see the damage. "I just realized how late it is. I had other things to do beside track you down." he lied, wrapping his good arm around her and leading her back to the party.

Kagome looked suspicious but let it go and they both fell into silence, Inuyasha glancing down every other second to stare at the jewel and wonder why the hell it had burned him.

Maybe he should rethink his decision to leave her even for the short time it would take to get clothes...But he couldn't. He left his weapons at home as well and he would need them for sure.

He halted just outside the major crowds, making her stop as well. "Promise me you'll be careful." he said suddenly.

Kagome nodded, blushing slightly when he leaned forward to rest his forehead against hers. "And one more thing...what's your name Beloved?"

"Kagome." she whispered, before shyly touching her lips to his.

Inuyasha memorized the feel of her lips under his before reluctantly pulling away. "I'll be seeing you...tomorrow." he stopped himself from saying 'soon'.

"Good night." she waved before walking away, not looking back.

Inuyasha gritted his teeth as his demon went into a frenzy, demanding he go after her. Instead he turned around and ran, determined to make his errand as quick as possible.

* * *

"You know, it's _really _not necessary to carry me around like luggage." Shippo pointed out crossly.

Hiten hitched him up higher to get a better grip on his little body, his free hand pressing the intercom button. "How else are you going to leave your creepy mini bat-cave unless I drag you out?"

Shippo huffed, "Hey, I leave all the time on my own!"

Hiten rolled his eyes, tapping his foot as he waited for Jaken to get the door. Shippo squirmed under his arm, but he just tightened his grip, not wanting to let go just yet. He would never admit it, even under pain of death, but he liked tormenting Shippo, for reasons more then just to torture the smart little brat. It made him miss his own siblings a little less.

"This better be important!" Jaken snapped as the door swung open, leaving the green little toad-frog-thing glaring up at them. "The Great Lord Sesshomaru was not expecting visitors!"

Hiten held up his free hand defensively as he stepped inside, barely avoiding trampling over Jaken. "Hey, I tried to grab Yash but the bastard's not picking up his cell. And Shippo seems to think this is important, so I figure we might as well go straight to the top."

"You can go straight to the dungeons if this isn't important." Jaken grumbled as he led to the way to Sesshomaru's office, as if they hadn't been there a million times before.

Hiten rolled his red eyes again, deciding it would only be a waste of his time to point out Sess didn't have dungeons anymore.

...to his knowledge anyway.

Jaken tapped smartly on a ornately carved door at the end of the hallway, but stepping in. "Hiten and Shippo are here to seek an audience with you, my lord. I would be more then happy to get rid of them if you wish my lord-" Jaken offered eagerly.

His face fell when Sesshomaru lazily waved a hand to beckon the two in while Jaken slunk off to do whatever it was he did when he wasn't worshiping at Sesshomaru's feet.

Sesshomaru didn't even glance up from his laptop as Hiten pushed the door closed behind them. "Is this jewel-related?"

Shippo squirmed and Hiten was finally forced to set him down. "I think so."

Sesshormaru tapped a few more keys before shutting down the screen and spinning around in his chair to face them. "Well?"

Shippo cleared his throat, slightly unnerved by Sesshomaru's sudden attention. "I took a look at the videos you...er, _asked_ me to look at once I was done studying for my math test." Shippo brightened suddenly. "I got a ninety-six by the way."

He swallowed when Sesshomaru did nothing else but arch a eyebrow cooly. "But anyway, I was looking at the tapes and put them through this heat-seeking process and I noticed something interesting." he held out his hand for the bag Hiten had been carrying for him, digging through it for the pictures he had printed off.

Sesshomaru accepted the glossy photo's Shippo held out, examining the bright colors carefully. Two red colored people were intertwined closely, sitting on a sheet of blue.

"Now, do you see that bright red dot near their feet? I think that's the jewel." Shippo pointed out excitedly.

Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed just the tiniest bit. "And this helps us how?"

"Well, the bright red means the object is giving off heat. Not in any of the other shots was there any heat coming off the jewel, until Inuyasha did all that weird stuff with that woman." Shippo explained as Sesshomaru flipped through the pictures and found no bright red dots before Inuyasha met up with this woman.

"Are you saying this woman has come into contact with the jewel?" Sesshomaru asked slowly, his claw tapping on the red figures face. "And it reacted in her presence?"

Shippo nodded. "I've already started to run scans on the woman's face and I should have the results in less then an hour." Shippo fidgeted under Sesshomaru's stare. "I have other homework, there's only so much the computer can do!" He said defensively.

Sesshomaru settled back in his seat, please with Shippo despite the lack of available answers. "Is there anything else?"

"Just one more thing. I hacked into the subways security cameras, just to make sure I had every single tape and I noticed signs of another hacker. I think someone else has seen the footage..."

* * *

Kagura moved silently through the crowds, her bodyguards a comfortable distance behind and in front of her, surrounding her even with the press of people. Her long kimono hardly made a whisper as it brushed along the dry grass, and even with her beauty, she went unnoticed as well.

She had learned early in life when it was best to disappear.

She wrinkled her nose at the human stench, her fan hardly much protection against the reek. The smell would probably linger in her skin and hair for days after this...But no matter, it would be worth it once she had the jewel safely in her keeping.

Her eyes quickly scanned the revelers's faces, searching for the one whose features she had burned onto her brain until she knew it as well as her own. Kagome Higurashi. The woman who was unlucky enough to find the jewel, though she probably had no idea what she truly possessed.

She felt a little regret at what she was about to do to Kagome Higurashi, but she was her father's daughter. She could only hope she could make her death painless, something her merciless father would never allow.

Kagura let herself wander the fair grounds as she searched, absently wishing she could be here for pleasure, not business. Her weapon of choice was her fan, but she didn't mind a good old-fashioned bow every now and then, and she could totally kick ass at that archery demo-

Kagura nearly stopped when her eyes flashed across Kagome's face, taunt with concentration as she lined her arrow up with the target and let it fly.

There she was, Kagura thought with little satisfaction as she subtlety circled the air with her finger, giving the signal to her guards to herd her away from the crowd. The arrow struck the target as one of the bodyguards stepped up to Kagome, asking her for help finding his money, his child, or whatever story he made up to get her alone.

Kagome nodded, her face concerned as she followed the man, not realizing she was walking towards her own death.

Fingering her fan, Kagura sighed as she walked behind Kagome, knowing this all would be worth it in the end.

* * *

"...and I just can't find her anywhere!" the man explained, nearly tearing at his hair in his worry for his daughter.

Kagome laid a reassuring hand on his shoulder as he led her to the woods where he had last seen his daughter. "Please don't worry, I'm sure we'll find her. She couldn't have gotten far, and the woods really aren't very large." she said soothingly, worried for the man and his daughter. While the forest surrounding the temple was on the small side, it could be rather terrifying at night.

Kagome readjusted the bow hanging over her shoulder, deciding to bring it with her. She wanted to be careful, even though it was unlikely anyone more would sneak up on her tonight. After all, she had already had two in a single hour, it was doubtful there would be anymore.

Kagome frowned as the man led her further away from where the children were normally allowed. "Are you sure she was here? Most kids stay clear of this section." Kagome explained, scanning the scary looking trees and darkness.

The man shrugged as she he pushed her further along, three others melting out of the crowd towards them. "She's adventurous." he said causally, as the first trickles of unease slid down Kagome's spine.

Kagome gestured back at the three men following them. "They friends of yours?"

"Brothers." he answered shortly, his gentle pushing turning into shoving.

With one final thrust that nearly tripped her, Kagome spun around to face the four men, suddenly realizing it might have been really stupid to go off on her own.

She lifted her chin as her hands went for her bow. "What do you want?"

The one man shifted, his face hidden in the shadow. "It's nothing personal, but we're getting paid a _lot _of money to take care of you. You must have pissed off some pretty important people." he tsked slightly. In unison, all four men took out their guns and pointed it at her, stopping her in her tracks before she could even attempt to ready her bow. "Lucky for you though, we have orders not to make it painful." he said as if that was supposed to be comforting.

Kagome's stared in dumb shock at the four guns aimed in direction, absently regretting the decision to lock Sango in the closet again.

She wished she had kissed Inuyasha one more time.

Without warning, the assassins pulled their triggers while Kagome was still trying to figure out who would want to kill her, the guns barely making a pop as the bullets sped towards her.

And then stopped in midair, surrounded by a bright pink glowing light.

Kagome and the men gaped as the little bits of metal hovered in the air for a moment, before abruptly hitting the ground.

"What the hell..." one of the men gasped before shooting rapidly, emptying his clip.

But like before, a pink light engulfed the bullet before it dropped harmlessly to the ground.

"Damn it. We're gonna have to do this the hard way." one of the men mumbled, rolling up his sleeves.

"Let me help you with that." Sango said sweetly from behind him, before grabbing his head and twisting sharply.

She let the man fall, his neck broken as his three 'brothers' sprang towards her. Grinning, Sango unsheathed her sword rammed the hilt into a temple, used the scabbard to knock one on his ass, while she buried the tip of the blade into the man who took the first shot at her.

Her fingers shaking slightly, Kagome reached up for her bow and readied an arrow, sending one whistling through the air and into one of the men's shoulders.

Sango glanced over at her, slightly disapproving. "Damn it Kag, how many times do I have to tell you that if someone's trying to kill you, you go for the kill shot to." she complained before planting her sword into the man's chest.

Kagome gasped. "But Sango! How are we supposed to explain this to-"

Sango shrugged as she stomped down hard on one of the men's heads, Kagome gasped again when the body turned into dust underneath her foot. "Don't worry about it, they weren't live humans." she assured, disposing the rest of the bodies in a similar way.

Sango dusted off her hands, "Are you alright Kagome? They didn't hurt you did they?" she asked before her face hardened at Kagome's shook head. "Good. Because we have a few things we need to talk about. What the HELL were you thinking locking me in that closet?"

Kagome flushed guilty, feeling oddly cold. She was probably about to go into shock..."I'm sorry Sango, but I didn't want you to hurt Inuyasha."

Sango scowled, her hands on her hips. "And why shouldn't I? He's not right for you."

Kagome slid her bow back over her shoulder, wondering if she should point out the bullets lying on the ground. "You don't know that."

"Of course I do. Trust me Kag, he's not the one. He's probably the reason you got attacked tonight." she cracked her knuckles, her expression turning dark. "Just wait till I see the bastard again..."

"Sango! Besides the fact you shouldn't be judging him before you know him, and I have no idea if I'm even interested in him that way, I'm still old enough to choose my own dates!" Kagome shouted in frustration, nearly stomping the ground with her foot.

"You're being naive, none of this weird stuff happened to you before he came into the picture." Sango shot back, her arm sweeping out to encompass the piles of dirt. "He's dangerous. You either need to stay away or let me kill him."

"Sango, I'm not a child anymore!" Kagome snapped in frustration.

"Then stop acting like one!" Sango shot back. "You're behaving just like you did in high school! Big bad boy comes sauntering through, and you go running towards him without a thought!"

Kagome jerked, taken back. "Sango, you know that's not fair."

A guilty red flush covered her cheeks but she didn't back down. "You need to _think _more before getting involved with these people Kagome. They're not good for you."

"That's not your choice to make Sango."

"Well maybe it should be. Besides, what's this loser got that's so important anyway?"

Kagome growled as her fear of nearly dying was quickly replaced by anger at Sango's stubbornness. "Sango, he says I'm a 'Mate'."

Sango jerked, her face going snow white. "...that's impossible." she gasped, looking terrified.

Kagome frowned, studying her friend carefully, not expecting this reaction. "It is? Why?"

"...because it is, that's why. Now come on, we need to go back. You're done for the night. You can play with Kiara and the other kittens, that sounds safer then staying out here any longer." she decided stepping forward.

She froze as her foot brushed a bullet on the ground, the little metal pieces rolling against each other gently. "Kagome...do I want to know what's on the ground?" she asked slowly.

Kagome winced. "Wait till tomorrow?" she suggested.

Sango ignored her to crouch down. "Kagome these are _bullets._ Were they shot at you?" she asked slowly, dangerously.

Her fingers finding their way automatically to the jewel around her neck, Kagome fidgeted. "Yeah but what's weird is...they stopped."

Sango blinked. "What?"

Kagome sighed in relief, glad she had gotten Sango off the topic of Inuyasha which meant hopefully she wouldn't have to lie about calling him tomorrow. "Come on, you're right, the festival is dying down for tonight anyway. I'll explain inside."

"You better." Sango muttered, following Kagome.

* * *

Kagura watched the two women leave from her spot hidden safely in the shadows. She tapped her chin with her fan thoughtfully.

So Kagome was a Mate, hmm...?

A small smile curved her lips. And it appeared Inuyasha wanted her for his own.

There must be _some _way she could use this to her advantage. Her grin brightened when she thought of how proud her father would be.

* * *

REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!! (Pretty please?)


	10. Chapter 10

**Penthesileia: **And she finally finished!!!! :) Send lots of reviews to her now!

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**CutePsycoNHyper: **I'm very, very, very, very sorry! I know, it's been MONTHS! I've been busy (damn college and it's ability to make me tired so that I don't feel like writing at all), and Jen's been bugging the hell out of me to write, so go praise her cause she's the only reason I finally set pen to paper (so to speak).

**Disclaimer:** Don't own Inuyasha or any other copyrighted things here that I might mention, so please don't sue!

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Kagome woke up the next morning slightly stiff and fought against the approaching awareness, a deep feeling inside instinctively telling her to just snuggle back in bed and not face the day's problems.

It was in this state of half sleep that her memory of the previous day came rushing back, making her groan and stirring her awake, and making her turn over and lay face down on her pillow, burying her head in it.

"And to think, last week my biggest problems were a boring date and saving up for a cute new pair of boots! Kagome groaned as she buried her face deeper into her pillow, "now I've got a demon mate, a bulls eye jewel and a freakishly, overprotective, slightly overbearing best friend who wants to decapitate said demon mate, even though he makes my stomach do flip flops whenever he looks at me!"

"Hey! I am NOT overbearing! I think the expression you were looking for was 'wonderfully caring and sensible!'"

Kagome lifted her head and glared at Sango, who was sitting at the vanity brushing her hair out. The set up of the old room hadn't changed in all the years Kagome had moved out, with the exception of the extra twin bed moved in for Sango's use.

Looking around, Kagome realized Sango had already made her bed, trained (if the various weapons out were any indication), showered, and changed….she was one of those "early risers"….freak.

"I meant OVERBEARING, what with the whole telling me whom I may and may not date and thinking that your input is the final word on the matter, and constantly talking about beheading a guy I kinda sort of maybe might possibly eventually love…..maybe" Kagome pattered off.

"Kagome, I love you, you're like my sister, which is why I might be inclined to take certain drastic measures sometimes in order to protect you," Sango said as she stood up from the vanity and grabbed a jacket from the closet.

Kagome sighed and moved aside the comforter before stretching towards the ceiling and giving Sango a small smile, "I love you too," she said as she swung her legs out of bed, "but you ha- ow!" Kagome plunked back down on her bed and stared bewilderedly at….nothing.

She reached out her hand slowly in front of her, managing to clear about half a foot from the edge of the bed before her hand smacked something….solid…and invisible…

"What in the?!" She glanced at Sango and her confusion grew as Sango's expression showed a mixture of triumph and…guilt?

"Like I said…drastic measures…"

Kagome's expression changed from confusion to incredibility as her still-drowsy mind quickly caught up with the situation. "D..did you…DID YOU MAKE AN INVISIBLE WALL AROUND MY BED?!"

Sango had the decency to look abashed, "….technically it's called a barrier," she put in somewhat meekly, or as close to meek as Sango could possibly manage.

"Wha….when did you….HOW did you…?" Kagome sputtered, her mind still too shocked to try and do anything else.

"Well…" Sango shifted a little uncomfortably, "I learned about protective barriers during my slayer training. I've never made one before, but I knew the theory behind it, so I tried it last night."

Kagome frowned once again. She knew the theory behind barriers too, and something was bugging her, but she couldn't understand what….when another thought hit her.

"Sango….I'm a pretty light sleeper…how did you do all this without waking me up?"

Sango shifted again, and mumbled something out.

"Sango…did you put something in my tea last night?!" Kagome stared incredulously at her friend once again as Sango cringed at her tone.

"Well, you're the one who taught me about herbs, and how to make sleeping draughts and stuff…" Sango threw back.

"Yeah! To use in emergencies when you have to, I don't know, amputate someone's leg or something! Not to knock me out and throw me in a magical equivalent of a cell! What the heck's the matter with you!" Kagome yelled as she got up and tried to find a way past the barrier to strangle her best friend.

"This IS an emergency Kagome! There is some crazy demon running around, claiming you're his mate, and he's drawing big guys with big guns to you and who knows what else!" Sango exclaimed as she made her way towards the door, "Until I deal with this, you are staying in here, where it's nice and safe!" She threw back before closing the door behind her.

"Sango!!! You get back here and let me out!!!" Kagome yelled, then sat back on the bed and glared as best she could at the invisible wall.

Now what?

-----

Inuyasha slurped up the last of the noodles from the cup, savoring the taste of his beloved ramen as he walked the shrine grounds, stopping now and then to look at something in one of the stands.

_This is pretty fun_, he thought to himself as he passed by the stalls of games towards the food sections, moving nimbly to his left as two young boys raced past. Inuyasha looked smirked as he watched them shove each other and laugh as they rushed away.

"Having fond memories of your childhood with Sesshomaru?" Miroku asked as he walked up behind his friend.

"I've paid dozens of therapists an obscene amount of money to help me forget growing up with Sesshomaru." Inuyasha said as he turned to look his best friend, "and any non-repressed memory of that time period usually involves forms physical and psychological torture not even sanctioned by totalitarian countries."

"Oh come on, I moved into the mansion twelve years ago, I was there when the prank war was still in its prime, and he was never that bad," Miroku laughed as the two walked through the fair grounds.

"Not that bad?? He tortured you almost as much as me!" Inuyasha exclaimed.

"He did not, he-"

"Remember the week after Christmas '98?" Inuyasha asked.

"Nothing happened the week after Chri- oh my god," Miroku exclaimed as his eyes widened, "I've been repressing that for more than ten years!"

Inuyasha laughed and patted Miroku's back, "Hey, it's okay! Your eyebrows eventually grew back, and you didn't lose any limbs."

"Yeah, but that's only because your dad medivacd me to the hospital to reattach my arm to my shoulder! I still can't bend the little finger on my left hand!"

"Hey, at least Sesshomaru left you alone afterwards."

"Only because your dad threatened to disown him if he ever hurt another innocent human," Miroku grumbled, "and his definition of "innocent" isn't like most other people."

Inuyasha laughed as he continued to walk the grounds, his eyes moving almost imperceptibly to catch any hint of trouble. He remembered the day Miroku had moved in. Miroku's family had been helping the Taisho family with their mission for centuries, and Miroku was the youngest one to have taken up the responsibilities after his father passed away, a mere seventeen years old when he had arrived. Inuyasha and him had clashed a few times, Inuyasha claiming the young monk was a perverted idiot and Miroku insisting Inuyasha was an arrogant prick. Eventually this somehow led to them being best friends.

"So, what are you doing here anyway?" Miroku asked, shaking Inuyasha out of his memories, "I'd have though you'd be stalking the Lady Kagome right about now."

"I don't stalk her!" Inuyasha said as he glared at him, "…besides you said women don't like to be…crowded…and she seemed a little annoyed at me yesterday when I didn't wanna leave…"

Miroku watched as his friend deflated right in front of his eyes…seriously, he could almost see the air coming out of him as he slumped down a little.

"Hey, it's okay yash," Miroku consoled as he patted his friend's back, "this whole thing is very strange for her, she probably needs sometime to get used to it. Besides, Lady Kagome is a strong, independent woman, would you want your mate to be any different? To be a sniveling, weak subservient woman who didn't put up a fight if a man tried to claim her?"

Inuyasha instantly perked up, "No, no you're right Miroku," he said, smiling, "my mate should be strong and able to make her own decisions, even if they do clash with my immediate wishes."

Miroku nodded and smiled too. He hadn't seen Inuyasha this happy in a very long time. And truth be told, if he had to pick a mate for his best friend, Lady Kagome would have been his first choice. She was beautiful, smart and kind and caring, but with enough will and fight of her own to keep Inuyasha from lording over her and making stupid mistakes….which he was bound to do.

"So what are you doing here then? If not visiting with your lady?" he asked as they walked towards the demonstration field.

"I'm keeping an eye out for any trouble of course!" Inuyasha said, "and I told Kagome that I'd like to help with the festival, so I'm doing teaching a couple of kids about swords, and I'm doing fight demonstrations later on," he said as they arrived at the weapon's shed by the field, "and I entered the Tournament."

Miroku nodded solemnly. He too had entered the tournament, as well as Sango, Kagome, and several dozens of fighters from the city. It was to be held on the third day, but Miroku could already tell who would make it to the final rounds, many of the poor guys on the field didn't look like they knew how to properly hold their weapons, let alone fight someone like Inuyasha with them. There were competent fighters on the field, some who were actually very good, but they had no idea who they were facing.

Miroku grinned and looked over at Inuyasha, who was also looking at the fighters with a mix of excitement and pity. "So do you know who you're fighting against first?"

"No actually, I was just about to check the roster" Inuyasha said as he made his way towards the list hanging against the wall of the shed.

"Don't bother," a familiar voice called out, "I already checked….it's me."

----

Kagome paced the floor of her tiny cell, which was impressive considering the small amount of space she had to work with.

This is ridiculous! She thought for the umpteenth time. I should be outside helping Mama, supervising the children, doing my demonstration, helping Gramps supervise the building of the stage for the play! And who's gonna pick up Souta from soccer practice??

She turned and glared at the invisible barrier once again. She had tried banging against it, thrown things at it, recited prayers to Kami and performed rituals her grandfather had taught her and nothing worked.

Course those rituals were probably incorrect since they came from Gramps…Kagome thought as she lay back on her bed and sighed. She sat back and frowned as a recurrent thought came back to her. Sango had told her this was the first barrier she had ever made, that she had only known the theory behind it. But Kagome had learned the theory behind it too, in fact she knew it better than Sango, who had always wandered to the more "physical" part of her heritage, while Kagome had studied the mystical part in depth.

And no offense to Sango, but this barrier was way out of her league. She shouldn't have had the spiritual energy to make a barrier this strong, and even if she did, she shouldn't have been able to control so much of it long enough to build this cell.

"So where did all the spiritual energy, and the control, come from?" Kagome asked herself out loud.

Kagome sighed again as she sat up and looked at her clock…on the other side of the barrier. She had been awake and stuck in here for almost an hour and a half!

"Kami, I can't even think with this barrier so damn close to me! If only it was farther away!" As soon as the words left her mouth she felt a warmth against her chest, looking down she saw her jewel glow a soft pink, and just like that, the barrier glowed pink as well and receded to the corners of her room, still there, but now extended to the parameter of her room instead of her bed.

Kagome's eyes widened as she stared in shock at the jewel, which slowly returned to normal.

Is this how Sango made the barrier? She incidentally channeled the energy of the jewel? Kagome wondered as she stared at the jewel in wonder. If the jewel's energy was used to create the barrier….

Thinking back to her knowledge of barriers, Kagome held up the jewel in her hand, and thought, Take down this barrier…

The barrier dissolved into pink dust as soon as she thought it.

"Huh….an hour and a half and all I had to do was think it…don't I feel like an idiot?" Kagome said as she quickly made her way towards the bathroom. First thing's first.

She'd take a quick shower and change, and make herself look presentable…then she was going to find Sango, break every bone in her body, heal her back to health, and then do it again…to start with.

She was down the stairs and at the door in record time.

"Put me in a bloody magical cell will you, you little…" she mumbled to herself as rushed out the door, …tackling the man standing on the other side in her haste.

"Oomph," she heard a voice grunt from under her.

" Hmm," she heard a voice above her say, "…are you Kagome Higurashi?"

"Yes?" she said, looking up at…a very familiar pair of golden eyes.

"Very well, I supposed you will suffice," the voice said, sounding incredibly bored and exasperated at the same time.

What-….suffice?…suffice for what? And what the hell does he mean he "SUPPOSED I'll suffice? Kagome thought as her vision finally focused enough to take in the rest of the man.

"Sesshomaru Taisho," he said, slightly nodding his head in greeting, "and the man you are currently straddling is my business associate, Kouga Garou."

"Garou…doesn't that mean 'Hungry Wolf'?" She asked, instantly shifting her body to lift herself off the man under her, her mind still not processing the fact that she was sitting on top of a man. A very attractive man actually, she thought as she stared down at the black haired young man with the bluest eyes she'd ever seen. He was also sporting a very wolfish grin.

"Oh I'm hungry for something all right," he said as he winked at her, "and judging by the way you were looking me over, you are too."

"What??" she exclaimed, sitting up, still on his lap, "I am not-"

Kouga cut her off by gallantly swooping her up bridal style, his grin intensifying, " Yes! We cannot let ourselves get caught in such a compromising position, such a fair lady's reputation will not be put in danger." he proclaimed.

Kagome had to stifle a laugh as she grabbed onto Kouga's neck to steady herself. "Oh my, thank you kind sir, but I know better than to trust hungry wolves." she teased.

"Oh, but I promise not to bite-"

"Aren't I becoming too much for you?" she asked, worried that his arms would give out from carrying her so long.

"I can handle you for much longer, but would you be able to handle me I wonde-"

"All right," Sesshomaru interrupted, his voice dripping with annoyance, "now that we've established that you are attracted to one another, may we move on to more important matters?"

Kouga opened his mouth to respond.

"Put the girl down, she still needs to change and get ready if she is to show us to the festival."

Kouga immediately placed her gently on her feet, while Kagome frowned at Sesshomaru, "But I am ready." She said, looking down at her outfit.

"Yes, yes, although you're miko costume is adept, it is frowned upon among our kind to impersonate one."

"…." Kagome gaped at him, unable to find the words to respond.

Luckily Kouga stepped in, snaking an arm around Kagome's shoulder. "I think she IS a Miko, Taisho."

Sesshoumaru lifted a brow at him.

"I mean," Kouga said quickly, "it's IN her file."

"In the time of my father's rule, Miko's were chaste and virtuous maidens, chosen for their purity. Women of integrity who would not swoon over a few pretty words" he said, looking Kagome with a look of slight bewilderment, "apparently time changes even the noblest of traditions."

-----

"Ooh, she's so gonna smack him." Shippo said into the phone as he watched the scene on one of the monitors in front of him, grinning at the mere thought.

"Who's gonna smack who?" A voice on the other line asked, "What are you talking about Shippo?"

"Huh? Oh nothing Inuyasha, so what did you need?" Shippo asked, his eyes still glued to the screen of the monitor, his eyes widening as he saw Kagome's eye twitch and her hands ball into fists while Kouga tried to diffuse the situation. Thank kami I took that lip reading course, he thought, regretting the fact that audio surveillance wouldn't be available for another three hours.

"So did you look into that real estate like I asked?" Inuyasha asked from the other line, his voice sounding a little impatient.

"Oh, right! The sale for the three surrounding properties went through, and I'm inquiring about the fourth." Shippo said as he snapped open a soda can, his eyes still not leaving the screen. "I've got the construction team at the site already, and the monks and miko are blessing the plots as we speak and building up the protective barriers you wanted."

"Great," Inuyasha said, his voice sounding much lighter, "lemme know about that fourth property as soon as you acquire it."

"Sure, and you're WELCOME," Shippo said pointedly.

"Yeah yeah, thanks runt," Inuyasha replied before hanging up, though Shippo did manage to hear the tinge of affection in his sarcastic reply.

"Inuyasha's never going to win Lady Kagome with those manners," Shippo sighed. The only time Inuyasha ever adopted any manners at all was when he was trying to prove a point to Kouga and Sesshomaru.

Shippo looked back at the screen and suddenly grinned, an idea hitting him, a brilliant one if he was going to be honest with himself. He took out a phone and made some calls to the staff at Kouga's condo, smiling triumphantly a few minutes later as he hung up. Turning back to the screen, his smile widened….this was going to be fun.

---------------

**Penthesileia: **Me next!!!! Now go review!


	11. Chapter 11

**Romanceaddict- **Thank you! I'm sorry it took so long to update this. (And I am working on TSAM, it's just taking me longer then I thought it would to update) As for whether Kagome is Inuyasha's one mate? We haven't decided yet. You'll have to keep reading to see what we do. :) Thank you so much for reviewing!

**Silkrose: **Thank you! We will continue, don't worry. Thanks so much for the review!

**Disclaimer: **We don't own Inuyasha and we are making no money off this story.

**Last chapter:**

_Luckily Kouga stepped in, snaking an arm around Kagome's shoulder. "I think she IS a Miko, Taisho."_

_Sesshoumaru lifted a brow at him._

_"I mean," Kouga said quickly, "it's IN her file."_

_"In the time of my father's rule, Miko's were chaste and virtuous maidens, chosen for their purity. Women of integrity who would not swoon over a few pretty words" he said, looking Kagome with a look of slight bewilderment, "apparently time changes even the noblest of traditions."_

_---_

_Miroku grinned and looked over at Inuyasha, who was also looking at the fighters with a mix of excitement and pity. "So do you know who you're fighting against first?"_

_"No actually, I was just about to check the roster" Inuyasha said as he made his way towards the list hanging against the wall of the shed._

_"Don't bother," a familiar voice called out, "I already checked….it's me."_

* * *

So Sango lied. She hadn't actually checked the list. But it didn't matter since the bastard wouldn't be alive long enough to look.

Miroku's mouth dropped while Inuyasha tensed. Considering there were civilians surrounding them, she had to think of a way to lure him away.

Smirking slightly, she stood in their path, legs braced, slayer suit clad, and weapons inches from her fingers. "Wanna play puppy?"

Inuyasha cracked his fingers, baring his fangs. "Feh. Bitch like you can't handle it. There's no way in hell I'm fighting you."

Her smirk only turned more sadistic. "Hey, I've got no problem with that. It'll make it easier to rip your head off your neck if you're standing still."

Growling, Inuyasha felt his claws grow longer and sharpen.

Miroku's eyes darted nervously from Inuyasha to Sango, not sure who to protect. "Guys, I think we need to calm down a little..."

Sango slowly ran a finger up and down the hilt of her sword lovingly, the way Miroku had always dreamed of her touching him. "I'll tell you when I'll calm down. When pup here swears to leave Kagome alone. Then I might feel calm enough to let him keep one of those fuzzy little ears."

Inuyasha snarled, eyes flashing red. "_Never." _Onlookers gasped at the fangs dripping over Inuyasha's lip._ "Kagome is mine."_

Miroku winced, knowing that was definitely going to offend Sango's delicate feminist sensibilities. And damn it, didn't they see the people wandering around?

Her hand tightened on the hilt, face hard. "I won't let you have her. She deserves better then the likes of you."

Inuyasha snorted, ignoring the blood running down his palms from where his claws dug in. "No fucking _duh _bitch. But she's got me, and you're not going to shake me loose."

Cursing, Miroku jerked himself into the middle of them, fingers twitching over the ofadus hidden under his shirt. They would subdue Inuyasha, but he had nothing for Sango, and no real way of stopping her.

There was a reason why Sango was one of the best demon slayers alive. It wasn't just her strength and skills that kept her on top, it was the stubbornness and determination she had in pursing her prey. He could slow her down, but he didn't stand much of a chance.

His best friend would be helpless while Sango ripped into him if he used the ofadu. But he didn't want Inuyasha to hurt Sango either.

What to do?

"You guys have to relax." Miroku snapped, praying they would listen to reason. "You can't get into the middle of a fight _here._"

Sango's eyes narrowed, looking past Miroku to Inuyasha. "This is my only warning mutt. Stay. Away. From. Kagome!"

Inuyasha only snarled in return, rapidly losing control of himself. He didn't really want to fight Sango, but damn it, he wouldn't let his claim be challenged either. But he knew Kagome would be upset with him if he hurt her friend. Even if she was pissing him off.

Sango took a step, Inuyasha's growling growing louder. "You selfish bastard! You've put her in danger enough as it is. Stay the fuck away before she can seriously get hurt!"

Miroku nearly groaned. Goddamn it, did she have to use the d-word? She might as well waved a red flag in front of a raging bull.

"Danger? What fucking danger? My mates in danger?" Inuyasha snapped, real fear creeping into his voice.

"You stupid dog! You say she's your mate but you can't even look after her?!?" Sango screeched. "Kag was attacked and _almost died. _All because of you!"

If Inuyasha had been full demon and possessed a tail like his brother, it probably would have been between his legs in shame, though his furious face hardly changed. Had he really placed Kagome in that much danger? She had gotten the jewel from him, but still, he thought he had some time left before she could get into any real trouble. "She's mine!" he yelled stubbornly instead.

Inuyasha would never give Kagome up. He'd just have to look after her more, turn into her stalker after all if that's what it took. He'd do whatever he needed to make sure she was safe with him. Even deal with Sango.

Gritting her teeth, Sango struggled to keep herself from pulling her sword out then and there, aware of the crowd starting to surround them. He was such a stupid, selfish _dog. _Kag's safety was more important than anything else. And if she was with this moron, she'd be everything but safe.

Though even if he was an immature, arrogant puppy with more of a swagger then was good for him, she could see a warmth in his eyes when he said Kag's name. He probably did care for the girl in his own, misguided way. If she were going to be around to watch over her, she might even have been more lenient about the relationship. She could almost see little babies with Kagome's hair, and Inuyasha's eyes. She would bounce them on her knees and teach them how to cut a beating heart out of their enemies chest with little more then a butter knife.

But that was impossible since she would be dead in a month. Or worse.

She sighed in spite of her anger. If only things could be different....

"I'll die before I see you with Kagome." All too true.

Red bled into Inuyasha's eyes, tainting the gold. "I can help with that."

"Stop this! Stop this NOW!" Miroku yelled trying to get their attention. Fuck, would Sesshomaru be able to stop them? Where was he when he needed him for once? Where was Kagome?

If someone didn't get here fast, blood was going to be spilled. He didn't know whose it would be.

"If you do this, you will both hurt Kagome!" Miroku roared over Sango's glare and Inuyasha's growl.

They froze, finally looking at Miroku for the first time.

"Sango is Kagome's best friend, Inuyasha is Kagome's...potential something." Miroku said quickly, trying to hold their attention. "How is she supposed to react if you hurt each other? Or kill each other?"

The red lessened to pink for a brief moment in Inuyasha's eyes. Sango's grip loosened on her sword.

"Feh. One night in my bed and she'll forget all about this bitch."

"We'll use your miserable hide as a bath mat." Sango snarled back.

Oh that was it. The bitch was practically _begging_ for it. He'd buy some pretty, glittery thing for Kag to apologize later. "Field. NOW." Inuyasha growled, before stalking off, Sango taking longer strides then normal to keep from walking behind him.

Miroku's eyes landed on one of the booths while he fisted the ofadu in one hand. Hopefully when he was done, they'd both want to kill him instead of each other.

That was, if there was anything left of him after Sesshomaru got through with him for letting it get this far in the first place.

He ran to the booth, trying to be quick. And where the hell was Kagome during all this?

* * *

Kagome stared at Sesshomaru, Kouga's arm over her shoulder completely ignored. She blinked, slightly aware her mouth was gaping open like a fish.

"....I...I'm sorry, no...excuse _you?"_ Kagome snapped, hands on her hips. Did he just call her a _slut_?

Instantly, memories from senior year rushed into her head, and her face heated. But damn it, she hadn't done anything nearly that bad since. There was no way in hell she could even be mistaken for a whore.

...well...except for the one time but again, it was freakin' senior year and she had been the biggest idiot alive. She was done being that stupid.

Sesshomaru only offered a polite brow raise, "I believe the term you mean to say is 'excuse me'." He explained patiently. "Which I shall do, but just this once. We'll have to enroll you in some sort of finishing school however." he mused, looking her over.

Kouga shifted nervously next to her. "Er...um..." he tried to think of something to say to defuse the situation.

"No..." Kagome started slowly, fists clenched, "I believe you meant to say, "Oh, I'm so sorry for implying you are a whore, Ms. Loveliest Person in the Whole Entire World."' Kagome corrected sweetly. "Because there is no way it's _polite_ or _sensible_ for some weirdo stranger with prettier hair then's good for them-"

She felt Kouga wince next to her, "Ow. You know, let's all calm down here..."

"-can walk up to some random chick and _insult _them, without even knowing one damn thing about them!" Kagome was practically yelling by the end of her speech. "Just who the hell do you think you are?"

"Ouch!" Kouga yelped again, yanking his arm back from her. "What did you do? That _hurt!"_

All resemblance of politeness was wiped off Sesshomaru's face, his features scarily blank as she glared at him, anger almost radiating off her.

And his damn eyes were locked on her chest.

"_My face is up here, _you-"

"Quiet your screeching woman. What is _that." _Sesshomaru extended a long, pale finger.

Growling, Kagome's eyes jerked down, "That my b-...oh." she breathed.

At least he hadn't been staring at her chest, per say.

Her necklace glowed bright underneath the white cotton of her shirt, illuminating a little circle against the fabric.

"Huh. That's weird." Kagome commented, pulling on the chain.

Kouga hissed and Sesshomaru's face hardened even further. "You fool, do not expose the jewel." he snapped, slapping at her hand.

_Spark_

Sesshomaru jerked back, part of his hand tinged black. He frowned down at his fingers. "Hmmm."

As Kagome's anger faded, the glow from the jewel died down. Her forehead furrowed as she stared at the two men. He said his name was Taisho. Taisho...where had she heard that name before?

Ayame had told her about him last night. ...she was such an idiot! The Taisho's were one of the groups looking for a jewel like the one hanging from her neck.

...and Taisho was also Inuyasha's last name...

Instantly her guard went up, all traces of flirtation or anger gone. Something was strange here. She wasn't sure if it was bad or good, but she needed to watch her step.

At least the Taisho's didn't scare Ayame like the other man did...Nara something or the other.

She took a step back, putting some distance between them, unsure of how to proceed. Sango would have been handy now, if the little jerk hadn't locked her up in her bedroom. "I really don't know what's going on here." she forced herself to admit.

...and suddenly, it struck her that she had just insulted one of the richest men in the country. One who was related to Inuyasha, and wanted her necklace for some reason.

_And _flirted with one of Inuyasha's friends/partners/associates/whatever the hell Kouga was to him. He wasn't going to be happy about that, even if she had every right in the world to flirt with whoever she wanted since they weren't official, or even on the path to official.

...oops...

She sighed. This really wasn't turning out to be her day.

Sesshomaru and Kouga exchanged a look. "We need to discuss a...business matter with you."

"About shrine related matters." Kouga broke in.

"But not here. Is there somewhere private we can converse about the...shrine related matter?"

Yeah, because that would be her smartest move of the day. Go someplace by herself with two strange guys, even if they did know Inuyasha. "I really don't think-"

"Kagome? Kagome! There you are! I hope you didn't spend the entire morning in bed." Her mother gently scolded, coming out from the house dressed in her own festival costume. "What are you doing?"

Silently thanking god for the save, she smirked at the denied look on Kouga's face. "Mom this is Kouga Garou and Sesshomaru Taisho. They say they have business with us-"

Before she could finish, her mother gasped and bowed over. "_The_ Sesshomaru Taisho? What an honor it is to have you at our shrine, sir! What brings you here?"

Kagome shrugged, an idea whirling. "They said they were on a shrine related-"

"OH!" her mother nearly squealed. "Are you here about our well?"

Kouga blinked. "Well? Um, oh yes, the well!" he said, not sure what the hell he was saying.

"Oh, thank the kami, our prayers have been answered! We were so worried about how we were to fix it...Please, please, do come in!" Reaching out, Kagome's mother grabbed the men's wrists pulling them into the house. Kagome smirked, knowing from experience the only way to remove her mothers grip would be to cut off her hand. Sesshomaru seemed like a jerk, but he wouldn't dare go that far, especially with that slightly awestruck expression on his face.

"Please, have some tea and food-" Mrs. Higurashi offered as she dragged them in. There was no way they were leaving that house anytime soon. Giving her plenty of time to find answers. Even some little scrap of information would be more then helpful at this point.

Rubbing the chain between her finger, she tried to decide where to go. She really had no idea what she was doing. Maybe it would be better to just sell it to Taisho or the other guy, get rid of all the problems that had suddenly popped up with its appearance.

But...it felt so _right _hanging from her neck. So close to her. Thinking about giving it away...unsettled her.

And there was still Sango and Inuyasha to deal with. She was still pissed at Sango, and didn't know how to deal with Inuyasha. Especially since he was from the family that possibly wanted her jewel.

...the simplest thing to do right now was probably to feed the cats. Anything else was going to give her a headache.

"Oh, _please, _Mr. Taisho, have some more!" Her mother's voice cheerfully floated through a window.

But there was no way she was getting in that house right now.

A feminine sigh had Kagome tensing up. "Ah, dogs. You really can't trust them, can you? Especially when they're part man."

Kag whirled around to face the noise, only to find one of the most beautiful women she had ever seen.

She leaned gracefully against one of the courtyard trees, her fan lazily wafting air. Her ink black hair was pinned up with a feather tie, bangs falling just to perfectly curved eyebrows, highlighting her strange eyes. Her kimono was gorgeous, and fit a body shaped like an hourglass. Her ruby lips were curved into a small smirk, as she studied Kagome.

Flinching slightly, Kagome tried to ignore the urge to fix her own clothing. There was nothing wrong with it, it was just plain. Especially with this woman staring at her. She felt like someone's fat, ugly cousin.

"Forgive me for being rude. I am called Kagura." she announced, her fan still moving back and forth.

Even her _voice _was beautiful. "I'm-"

"Kagome." Kagura finished for her. "I know, my dear. Unfortunately, so do others."

A chill settled over Kagome's body, in spite of the warm sun beating down. "What do you mean?"

Kagura snapped her fan closed, sliding it into her obi as she straightened from the tree. "Those stupid dogs have placed you in great danger, Kagome. All for the pretty bauble around your neck."

Without even realizing it, Kagome's fingers closed over the jewel. "But...this is really nothing special." she lied. To be honest, even she wasn't anything special. Not special enough to go after.

Kagura gave her a reproaching look. "Let's not play this game Kagome. I-" she placed a hand on her heart for emphasis, "-truly want to help you. There are some very bad men focusing their attention on you, and the Taishos aren't doing much to protect you. They just want the jewel for themselves." Kagura suddenly laughed, "Inuyasha couldn't even be bothered to give you a lie about the jewel. He just stuttered and changed the subject when you asked what it was, didn't he?"

Her eyes widened. How did she know that?

She gave Kagome an elegant shrug. "I can guess." she said to her unanswered question. Taking a few steps closer to Kagome, Kagura reached out and gently brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "Has he used the mate line on you yet?" she asked kindly.

She took Kagome's silence as a yes.

"Well, at the very least, you should be flattered they're putting so much effort into you. But to be a mate...it's not what it seems."

Is that why Sango had gotten so scared when she said she was a mate? Was it something bad?

"The only thing that dog was right about, is that this isn't the right place to talk." Reaching into her sleeve, she pulled out a white business card, the only thing written on it a long number. "You can call me at anytime with this number. Please don't hesitate to do so."

Kagome stared at the card without accepting it, "How do I know I can trust you either?"

Kagura broke into a smile. "I _knew _you were smart, Kagome." she said happily. "That is _exactly_ the right question to ask." Taking her hand, she forced the card into Kagome's palm. "When you call me, I will only offer a different...viewpoint. Listen to what the Taishos have to say, then do me the honor of granting me my own say. Judge for yourself after."

Fingers curling around the card, Kagome offered her a hesitant nod.

Stepping back, Kagura offered a quick bow. "Farewell Kagome. I hope to hear from you soon. Until then, stay safe."

Watching her walk away, Kagome slipped the card into her pocket. Screw her _and_ Inuyasha. She wasn't going to wait around for answers from anyone. She knew exactly where to get her answers and couldn't believe she hadn't thought of it earlier.

She was going to the library.

* * *

AN: Review, pretty please!


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